Saving wasn't something that came very naturally to me. While I've grown a great deal over the years, it's taken discipline to do it. And let's be honest, the word discipline implies a hardness and heaviness to it.
To overcome that, I've found ways to make the process fun.
Here's one of the greatest lessons I've learned by saving just a simple $5 dollar bill that has helped to make savings, and in turn investing, fun.
The $5 Challenge
I set a goal a few years back to save every $5 bill that I received in change back when paying in cash and to not spend it for six months.
As easy as that might sounds, at first it felt awkward.
I'd pay for something, then before I knew it, I was somehow spending more money because I couldn't use the $5 bill that I had gotten back that I would have easily used before. The fact that it was still there in my wallet created even more temptation to spend it.
To overcome this and support my goal, I choose a hiding place to stack these. As it grew, I made batches of $100 and before I knew it, I had hundreds of dollars tucked away. By the end of the six months, I had saved just over a thousand dollars just by playing a game.
I was definitely stoked!
The Priceless Lesson
The key takeaway this taught me was to change my mindset in how I viewed spending and saving.
As I went through this process, I saw that I no longer felt bad if I took $100 dollars out one week, then another $100 the following, because I was saving 40% or more of that (because I started to change the rules and save my dollar bills).
The $5 challenge became a valuable tool I still use, whether paying in cash or some digital way like setting the round up my purchases feature on Stash. And if $5 is too much or too challenging to think of, start smaller. Don't raid the coin jar for six months and see where that leads or save a few dollars here and there.
Whatever step you take, make sure it's one that works for you, inspires you, and where you can have fun with it. Then sit back and watch your savings add up. When you're ready, you can then use that to start or add additional funds to your investments.
Have a great one!
