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Home > I am so jazzed about this "forced savings"

I am so jazzed about this "forced savings"

January 14th, 2009 at 02:41 am

Okay, so it's like beating a dead horse. However, I just want to stand on top of the roof and scream, TRY IT!

Round down your checking deposits and round up your checks written.

Keep a second register with true and accurate amounts that you only update when you balance each month.

The working register always gets rounded.

Try it. Put aside your need to know exactly what your balance is and prepare for a shock at the end of the year.

Call is an extra mortgage payment or christmas present fund. 2008 netted me over $2k with just a little rounding each time I opened the checkbook up.

Simple. Easy. Your really don't miss the money, you just force yourself to tighten the belt a little bit whenever necessary.

Out of sight, out of mind. Give it a shot.

Posted in | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “I am so jazzed about this "forced savings"”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 02:51 am 1231901512
    1231901512

    That is a great idea. Right now, I'd rather put my extra pennies towards debt!

  2. lizajane Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 03:39 am 1231904398
    1231904398

    I opened a Bank of America account to take part in their keep the change program, mostly because they matched the change for the first 3 months. It's the same principal, but easier if you round up on your own by more than just the next dollar. I only saved $150 over the 9 months, but I should get a credit of another $30-$40 when my year anniversary comes up. I like your $2000 better!!

  3. Nika Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 05:10 am 1231909836
    1231909836

    Sounds like a good way to increase savings!

    However, I can't just not check my account online.

    I have this compulsion to know that all my payments went through, that I don't have any erroneous charges, etc... (never happened to me, but I heard of it happening to other people.)
    And I need to see what I have in order to transfer the right amount into savings.

  4. whitestripe Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 06:18 am 1231913923
    1231913923

    it's not the same, but the first car i saved up for, four years ago, i saved by rounding off my bank account and transferring it to my savings account every day. in 6 months i saved $2200, and that was when i was only earning about $8 an hour. Smile i can't help imagining if my savings plans were simpler now, how much i would save using that same technique, seeing as i earn $20 an hour now. (but i suppose my living expenses have increased as well... )

    but i do like your idea!

  5. Amber Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 03:28 pm 1231946899
    1231946899

    I use to round up my change, got the idea from BoA and don't know why I stopped. But thanks for the reminder because I will start it up again

  6. mjrube94 Says:
    January 15th, 2009 at 12:28 am 1231979337
    1231979337

    Interesting, and pretty amazing results. I'm going to try this. I used to participate in Bank of America's Keep the Change" program, where they round up your debit card purchase to the nearest $ and automatically transfer the change to a savings account. But I was signed up at a point when I wasn't using my debit card very much so it didn't really add up for me and I've since closed the savings account. The idea of keeping two registers doesn't thrill me, and it's tough for me to let go of my type-A need to be balanced to the penny, but your results indicate that it's at least worth a try! Thanks for the idea...

  7. mooshocker Says:
    January 15th, 2009 at 12:38 am 1231979922
    1231979922

    Hey friends. I understand how tough it is to keep track in a second register and/or balancing every day or so. That said, just write in the actual amount in the check written/deposit box but round out the total. This way you can balance between the actual check written or deposit made directly with the statement instead of using your register total as part of the equation. God bless and trust me, this truly works!

    Get gutsy with it. Today for example, I wrote a check to the electric company for $103.22. Wrote that amount in the check written box but then subtracted $110.00 from the running balance. That was a $6.78 savings "deposit". Just that amount alone for one year is about $72.00 Get the picture?!

    I also get a monthly deposit that is about $123.00. I only show a direct deposit made in the deposit box of $100.00. That is another $270.00 per year.

    So taking two transactions into account, one deposit, one withdrawl, I have already saved about $342.00 per year!

    Make those debit/credit notes in the boxes, forget the running total when balancing and make little notes along the way so you can see very quickly how much you have saved. God bless and good luck.

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