Coin Jar

Hi!

 F & J here...

Sorry it has been too long since our last post, we have been trying to make this page the best it can be, and we want you to love it as much as we do.

We know everyone loves to travel, but we also know how much a trip can cost. From hotel, flights, cars, gas, food, souvenirs, activities, and anything else that comes up, your wallet could be left crying and feeling empty inside. So being the travel loving poor girls that we are, we had to come up with something to help us save up for a trip we were planning to take. We began brainstorming ideas, and knew that it would be hard to put aside money every week, when we needed it for other stuff that was more important. So after lots of ideas, we mutually came up with an idea that would actually work.

We took an old coffee jar, some old magazines, some liquid Elmers glue, and of course some glitter, that were sitting around our dorm room, and began crafting what became known as the coin jar. Taking a total of one whole day to make.

The coin jar is super simple and has three rules:
 1. At the end of every night all coins go into the coin jar
 2. The coins in the coin jar must be dedicated to something (such as a trip, concert, etc.) and MUST be used only on that
3. Coins must only be put in, never taken out, unless spending on the above decided

Easy Right?! To be honest that sounds crazy to put in only coins, but you would be surprised on how fast money adds up, as long as you spend cash on your purchases. Also tip: We went to the bank, asked for some paper coin rollers, rolled up our coins and exchanged them for cash dollars, they never complain, and it makes spending the money a lot easier!

Last year, our dedication to the coin jar was a road trip to California. We ended up with about $450, which paid for ALL of the gas, there and back, as well as our Starbucks, so you could say we were happy with the end results of the coin jar.

At times it was hard to put in $.90 here and there, but the bottom line was that we never really missed the money, and did not feel shorted of money because of this. The coin jar worked so well that we decided to make it an annual thing, to help fund a trip we want to take. Our first coin jar got used and abused, so we decided to make Coin Jar 2.0 for this year. Our dedication is a secret, and I am sure we will blog about it when it happens, hopefully later this year (fingers crossed).

Right now we have $247 saved up, as you can see from our handy chalk board sticker (only found on the 2.0 style) and we will keep you updated with every new count that we do.
We highly suggest starting your own coin jar, and letting us know how it works for you, or if you have any suggestions for us. We would love to hear them!

Love,

F & J