The Grown-up Piggy Bank

What's the first way you were taught to save money? I'm guessing it was either a piggy bank or something similar. How old were you? Don't remember? Yeah, me neither.

Well, whether you were three or thirty, you're never too old for a piggy bank. Of course you're an adult now, so let's step it up to a "savings jar." Lots of people keep jars around for loose change, but if you really want to start saving money, you have to go it a step further. 

This idea was somewhat inspired by The New Girl's "Douche Bag Jar", however, since I'm the only adult in my house and I'm really quite lovely, that kind of jar would remain empty. :) 

Instead, I decided that any time I was tempted to go out for fast food, stop at Starbucks for coffee or go anywhere else for something I already have at home, I would stop myself. Then, when I got home, I'd take the money that I WOULD HAVE spent and I put it in my savings jar. 

For this to work, you need to get used to paying for things with cash. At the beginning of every week, set a budget for yourself and take out that much cash. Only use your credit/debit cards or checks for things like bills or necessary purchases. All personal splurges should be paid for with cash (or in this case, foregone, so that you can add the cash to your jar.)

After you've made your jar, come up with a specific goal that you are saving for. Write that goal down or print a picture, and tape it to your jar. This will help you keep your eye on the prize. For example, I'm saving to take a class at the community college next semester, so I taped "IVCC Spring 2013" to my jar. 

Keep your savings jar somewhere that you can see it. If you trust your family not to steal from it, keep it in a central place, so that they can all reap the motivation of your efforts. If you don't trust them, or you're afraid of theft in general, keep it somewhere secret.

The only time you should ever remove money from your savings jar is if you meet your goal, however it is nice to have the money set away in case of an unforeseen emergency. 

Tip: Make Your Own All-Purpose Cleaner

There used to be a time not too long ago, when Windex was my best friend. I cleaned basically every surface of my house with it. I'd just wander from room to room with a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels. 

I also believed that I was a genius, because I bought my Windex in the massive gallon-sized jug from Sam's Club. I thought, "Man! I am saving so much money this way. Look at all those suckers, paying for new bottles when they could just be refilling the old ones."

*sigh* How naive I was... 

Not only was I still throwing away money on a chemical cleaner, but I was also wasting money (and trees) with my rolls of paper towels. Now, I make my own all-purpose cleaner, and rather than go through roll after roll of paper towels, I use (and reuse) cheap rags from the dollar store. This way, rather than spend roughly $2 per bottle of cleaner, I spend about $0.10. 

Here's what you need:

an empty spray bottle (you can get one almost anywhere for $1)
cheap dish soap, I use Ajax
vinegar
an old rag

Pour into your bottle roughly 1 tbsp dish soap and 1/4 cup vinegar - white or apple cider work equally as well, but white is cheaper. Then fill the rest of the bottle with warm water. Shake to mix. 

You can use this cleaner on any surface without fear of damage, however I find that the soap leaves a faint film on glass, so I still use glass cleaner for my mirrors, at least until I find a streak-free alternative! :) If you're worried about your house smelling like vinegar, don't be. The smell dissipates in a few minutes.

Tip: Freshen a Room with Vanilla

I can't count how many times I've shelled out $60 for air fresheners from Bath & Body Works. I LOVE that store, and their Wallflowers are my favorite air fresheners. However, paying that much hurts my wallet so much that I feel it in my heart. 

Leaving my air unfreshened however, is not an option. Not only do I have a toddler who's constantly leaving snacks sitting out, I have a cat (kitty litter box - ewww) and a rabbit in the house. 

Rather than splurge on my beloved Wallflower plugins, I typically use the Renuzit fresheners. They're great at eliminating odors, and they only cost around $1 apiece, lower if you catch them at Walmart right before season changes when the new fragrances come out.

While flipping through my "Who Knew?" books, I found this tip for freshening your rooms that costs about $.05 and takes 2 minutes. I tried it out on a day when it was rainy and muggy and the house had that stale funky smell, and it worked! It freshened it right up and left a crisp bright scent. 

Take a couple of q-tips and a bottle of vanilla extract. (I used imitation, but I hear if you use the real thing it will smell like vanilla.) Dip the q-tip in the extract and wipe the top of a cool lamp bulb. Then turn the lamp on. Within 10 minutes, your house will smell like new!

Spreading the Revolution

When I was younger, I was notorious for spending money willy-nilly. At the end of the week, I couldn't tell you where my money went or how much I had left. I was young, single, had a good job and as long as the bills were paid, I didn't worry about much else.

Like most people my age, I wasn't raised that way. My mom was amazing at pinching pennies. She was a single mom with two kids, and even though she didn't make much money, she managed what money she did have so well that neither my brother nor I really even realized that we didn't have a lot.

Now, I'm a mom myself, and I've had to become a money-managing boss, just like she was. Lucky for me, I had a great example, so I already knew a lot of the tricks of the trade. Some people aren't so lucky.

When my daughter was born, I had to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom while my husband worked. Going from two good incomes to one put a definite strain, not only on our lifestyles, but on our marriage. In the end, the marriage ended, and one of the big complaints my husband had was that he couldn't handle knowing that he made really good money, and after supporting a wife and kid, he didn't feel like he had the lifestyle to show for it.

I understand where he's coming from, and I know that a lot of marriages end this way. I hope that he gets the flashy expensive toys that he wants, and I hope they make him happy. I however, don't believe that collecting material things necessarily equals happiness. I agree with this quote from the late George Carlin -

I have decided to raise my daughter the way my mother raised me. I'm currently in the first year of starting my own business, so money's tight anyway, but regardless of how much or how little money I make in the future, our lifestyle will remain constant. I won't spend money on needless expenditures, and I will teach my daughter the importance of saving for things you really want.

For an early birthday present this year, my mom bought me a series of books, called "Who Knew?", which is a collection of books with tips for using common household items to fix problems, rather than pay for costly solutions. It also has great tips for cutting costs in all aspects of your life.

Since I'm all about cutting costs and pinching pennies, I'm constantly looking for tips and I'm going to share what I learn. I'll be testing out the tips in the books, as well as tips from Pinterest and my various magazine subscriptions and posting the results.

I hope you follow along and I hope I can help you start saving more money in your own lives.