There’s many different ways to stash your cash——and it’s always good to review these trends/tips at least twice a year (or once) to make sure that your cash (nest egg) is growing rather than being eliminated without a monthly budget in place.
Some of you (like my husband) don’t use pocket change. I (Litsa) recently recall a conversation where my husband asked me where a BIG bowl of change was—five weeks worth of change that he dumped out of his pocket. I explained myself with one word: Kroger. He didn’t say a word besides repeating my word: Kroger. For me, change spends well. I use it in the self-checkout lines at Kroger & Wal-Mart (without a fee added to me to use a machine to count it up for us). A handful of change spends well and deducts added dollar signs from our grocery budget and/or stockpile items that I find for over 70% off of retail prices. In our household, change gets more leverage being used but you have to decide how pocket change works for you.
Paychecks are a great place to begin your savings plan too. You can save money on your taxes by reducing your taxable income. Direct funds toward your 401(K) flexible-spending accounts. Pull money out of each paycheck for an emergency savings fund. Or live off of one income. For seven years, I’ve had the luxury of staying home. My six figure salary was missed less and less each year. WE needed it or at least wanted it but know now that we can live without it. Thus, we are prepared to demolish debt with it and stash the rest in retirement accounts. Auto-deduct from checking to savings—-you can’t spend what you don’t see!
Read the fine print on credit cards that may offer valuable benefits, from rental car and travel insurance to reimbursement for stolen goods or lost luggage——and/or pay attention to emails and letters from companies that you’ve used that may have over charged you. Recently, American Express sent out letters that customers may have been over charged for flight premiums—-that worked out to around $150 in over charges for our family. It never hurts to follow up when you want to make a difference in the amount of cash you are stashing for future needs/wants.
How do you personally stash cash in your household? Make sure to look over this Money Matters post for more tips!
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