It started with a gift from my mother-in-law. A jar full of change, sea shells included.
It was a reminder that every year we said we would go to the beach.
And every year….we didn’t.
But that year, I decided….this is the year!
And we went. This year (2018) was the third year in a row that we were able to visit the beach.
And it started with a jar of change.
The jar got a name. Beach Fund. (In a pinch it is my Yahtzee fund, out of which, I have to pay Brian when I lose the Yahtzee roll. But that is another story for another day!)
This year when I cashed in my beach fund, I had accumulated 148.76. Not a ton of money but enough to indulge in some frivolous spending.
Not too bad for throwing change in a jar.
It has never failed to amaze me how quickly change can add up.
One of my very first memories with my dad was putting change in stacks and then into rolls (no change counter back then) and carting it off to the bank. The teller counted the rolls and made a nice little entry into our savings passbook and just like that, I had money in the bank!
Is there something which you have been wanting but the extra money just never happens?
Why not try a change jar fund?
Name it.
Commit to it.
Every time you get change, don’t spend it. Put it in a special container. Preferably, out of sight and out of mind.
After a while you will notice that you have accumulated quite a bit of change. The dollars are adding up!
Eventually, you can cart it off to the bank and use the proceeds to fund your dream.
The beach fund is a great example of Living By Littles. By watching the pennies, the dollars watch themselves.
What is your beach fund called?
Love this idea 🙂
It is a fun way to save a little extra money!
I am not a big beach fan (I know I am weird), I would rather be in the mountains or exploring air conditioned museums. I do have a jar for Oscar tho. He is 2 months old and has about 5 bucks to his name. It is not much but I plan to teach him about saving this way. Peggy (grandma by choice) took me to get my first savings account with my babysitting money. Micki, I believe the baby sitting money was from watching Hannah and also watching Isaac & Rachel. I will never forget how important I felt having an account card with my name and account number. I still use that savings account to this day. I look forward to more blog posts… brought up some great memories.
Thanks for taking the time to check in! What a great babysitter you were. What a great mom you are!
Not only is it a great way to teach kids but change works wonders to get them to do what you want them to do!
I will have to post on the penny system Mandy is using. Great incentive!
I think I will name by jar cruise jar.
Thanks for the idea!
My Grandmother always saved her change in a jar for Matthew (her first Great Grandson). It all started when a pine tree was being taken down in her front yard and Matthew stood on the sofa and watched the tree workers all day long. The general contractor watched Matthew each day and when they had finished with all the trees, paid Matthew with a dollar bill. My Grandmother prompted him to put it in a jar and watch it grow, which it did with change from her all year long. She would count the money annually and put it in a savings account for him, it mounted up slowly but for a little boy it was huge. As an adult, Matthew now has a change jar that he saves for “Big Boy Things” now.
It is amazing the lessons that we learn when we are kids. They aren’t really meant as lessons at the time but they become huge teachable moments.