Breaking The Piggy Bank: Spare Change and Huge Benefits

Does spare change really matter? It can, if you take it seriously! Around our house, we use it as a sort of alternate emergency fund. Having large jugs of change sitting around is entertaining and fun when you go to cash it in. It’s a conversation piece, and a great way to teach kids to count if you have young ones at home.

Five benefits of all that spare change:

1)     If someone breaks in a heavy jug full of change is an effective weapon! It’s also an effective solution to an empty gas tank.

2)     It’s a surprise night out to dinner without feeling guilty.

3)     It’s the kid’s lunch money when you forgot to pull it out of the bank.

4)     It’s the popcorn or extra snack at the movies, or a DVD that you’ve wanted but haven’t purchased.

5)     You won’t keep getting holes in your pant pockets from carrying around a ton of extra coin.

Even a small amount of spare change can be a huge comfort if you find yourself stressing between paychecks. But how do you build up that spare change in the first place? Most of us have gone over to using our bank cards or credit cards instead of cash, but that really isn’t necessary. If you switch to making your purchases with cash rather than cards you will build up that spare change fund pretty quickly.

You can set up a cash system for your house pretty effortlessly. Just leave enough money in the bank to cover any bills that run through automatically. Then pull the rest out in cash and divide it up according to your needs. Put your cash in envelopes – one for food, gas, entertainment, etc. Then spend as usual. Stick your change in a jar at the end of the day and you’re set!