Happy Healthy Families

In an earlier post I mentioned that my one and only New Year's resolution this year is to save $1 everyday.

Not a big goal, admittedly. But I am banking on this small step on the road to improving my finances to lead to bigger steps as the year goes on.

The funny thing is, as I meet this savings goal every day I feel better about myself. (And a little richer.)

Accomplishing any goal we have set for ourselves can only inspire us, motivate us, as we set bigger goals for ourselves. This is what I believed when I made my resolution, and this is what I am finding to be true.

Every morning I save one more dollar in my secret savings stash before I do anything else. Well, almost anything. This gets my day started on a very positive note, plus I have that dollar safely tucked away before it gets spent during the day. And by the end of each day, I have usually managed to add more money to my 'piggy bank.'

How much have I saved so far with my $1 a day plan?


I started mid-December-ish. So let's say 14 days in December. Plus 14 days thus far in January. About 28 days of saving.

At $1/day, I should have saved $28.

I have saved $97.

Woot!

So how am I saving this money? Let me tell you 3 sneaky money-saving tips that are working for me:

1. When I am about to run to the grocery store for last-minute dinner planning groceries, I stop and look once more through my cupboards for items I can make a dinner with instead of grocery shopping. Again.
Next, I take the money I was going to spend at the store and immediately put it in my savings stash. Key word here is immediately. I do the same thing when I am thinking of ordering a pizza or making a run to the nearest fast-food restaurant. Save the cash - cook with what you have in the kitchen whenever you can.

2. When I do laundry now, I put 4 quarters into a jar I keep by the washing machine. Just as if I were at a Laundromat - but I am paying myself, not the owner of that laundromat. Those quarters get added to the savings at the end of each day as well.

3. When I go grocery shopping, I still play the 'grocery store game' - I always try and pick one item (at least) to return to the shelf and do without before heading to the check-out aisle. When I get home, I add the amount that item would have cost me to my savings stash.

As my little savings gets bigger and bigger, I am  motivated to save more money and in different ways. I love having this 'secret savings' - it is my accomplishment that makes me smile every morning when I get out of bed. It may not seem like much, this little resolution of mine. But it is. In more ways than one.

$1 a day.

My New Year's resolution. Let's see where it keeps leading me.