Saving money can often feel like climbing a mountain. It can feel like an endless sacrifice that requires discipline and focus. It turns out that it doesn’t have to be so hard. One experienced saver has shared their top secret and we are happy to pass it on. ‘Focus on the fives’ is an easy method of saving money that requires only a little discipline.
The idea is simple. When spending money you often receive change. If you are ever handed a 5, save it. Put it away somewhere that you won’t spend it. Overtime those 5s will add up to a considerable sum and you will have found you saved money without even realizing.
My mother always said, “look after the pennies and the pounds will love after themselves”. In the modern-day though saving pennies won’t return much. However, if you look after the 5s you can be sure the 100s will look after themselves. Before long you will have plenty of money to bump your savings or treat yourself to something nice.
It is really easy to get started. The most important thing to do is stopping spending so much money digitally. Take out however much money you plan to spend in a week and put your card away. Then whenever you receive a 5 note in change hide it away somewhere at the bottom of your bag. Let those 5 notes stack up and every time you save 1000 you can put it in your savings account or invest it in something with a higher yield.
By removing the 5s from your spending you will find that you impulse purchase less. How often have you been passing by a small treat or some item you didn’t really need and thought oh its only 4 bucks. If you remove the 5s from your spending system you don’t have small money to throw away on needless items. Give it a go today and watch how it can change your spending behavior.