Money Saving Idea

I cannot take credit for this idea, I got it off of another blog, but I LOVE it. I am going to start doing this myself.

I'm sure you've heard of the Keep the Change program that was offered by a bank that shall remain nameless here. I wanted to open an account with them, but they don't have them in CO, so it didn't happen. I never stopped to think about the fact that I could do it myself. The idea is that every time you make a purchase, you round the total up to the next whole dollar and the change adds up for you to save. The person who originally submitted the idea said she does this on her checkbook register in two different columns to keep her running total.

I don't keep a paper copy of my register (I like to save paper where I can) and I do mine on my computer. Here is what I am planning on doing. When I enter a purchase, I will round up my charge to the next dollar amount and that is what I will enter in my computer program. The next part you can do two ways: First, keep a running total of the difference between what you entered and the actual amount on paper. Second, keep a running total in Excel. I think I will do the second because I don't like having pieces of paper to keep up with. Then, at the end of the month (or every few months) take out the leftover change and put it into savings. You can save the change up for a special treat to yourself, pay extra on a credit card, or whatever you would like.

I do plenty of other things to try and stay ahead. For example, I take money out as soon as I get paid to save, I have money taken out automatically for my IRA, I clip coupons, and I do lots of things around the house to cut down on energy bills, but I love this idea too. So, it is just one more thing to do to keep me from living paycheck to paycheck and that is the whole point.