Grow your Savings with a Change Jar!

A few years ago, my husband and I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University and switched to a cash budgeting system. For awhile, I would keep the change we got back from purchases in a Ziploc bag to apply toward future purchases. One day, we decided to start a change jar. The first time we filled the jar and went to cash it out, we were shocked! In a matter of months, by throwing all of our spare change in the jar, $100 had accumulated! We usually “save” $200-$300 each year by doing this.

If you decide to start a change jar, here are a few things you can do with your spare change:

Apply it to your emergency fund

Use it for a vacation (we usually use some money from our change jar as spending money/fun money when we go on vacation)

Use it for back to school shopping

Add it to your children’s savings accounts

Buy family passes for the zoo, a Children’s Museum, or an amusement park

Add it to your Christmas savings (at the end of the year, we always cash ours out for Amazon codes to use for Christmas shopping)

Plan a special family activity

Here are a few tips:

• If you cash out for a gift card at a Coinstar location, there are no fees!  You can get gift cards for Amazon, Southwest Airlines, Toys ‘R Us, JC Penney, Old Navy, and even iTunes!
• Check with your local bank or credit union to see if they have a change counting machine and find out if there is a fee.

Do you have a change jar?  What do you do with your extra change?

This is the 4th post in my 30 Days to a Better Budget series.  You can see all of the posts in this series here–> 30 Days to a Better Budget