Piggy Banks and Purse Change
This is a learn as we go situation, so keep treading water with me, as I figure this out. I’m still trying to find the best way to share our earnings and spending with you. I don’t want to bombard you with a post for every single purchase and bank deposit we make. I also don’t want to save it all up for one mac-daddy (did I just say mac-daddy?) post at the end of the month like I have been so far. You’re going to take one look at it and go, “That is way too much information in one post.” CLICK. You would close the window and never return. I’m making this up as I go along. As you’re tagging along, I could really use your advice. After all, one of the main points of Me, Myself and Money is to learn from each other.
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In the mean time, we had an interesting evening here the other day with a piggy bank and an old purse. I had a revelation, or a rerevelation because I have a feeling this thought has crossed my mind before.
Steve’s best friend, Andy, gave Moanna a piggy bank for Christmas. It was a big pink pig with her name on it. Andy told Moanna that it was for, “Saving money to make her dreams come true.” Moanna didn’t care about the dreams; she was excited to have a new place to put all the change she finds around the house. If she finds money laying around, it’s hers.
We decided that Moanna should move all of her money from her old piggy bank to the new one. It would be a fun project for her. It would also be a great opportunity for us to teach her about money. Before Moanna was born, even before we were “dating,” Steve and I had many conversations about how important it is to teach children about money. The new pig was our segway into teaching Moanna about compound interest, credit cards, supply and demand, negotiating, residual income… Slow down? Too much information for a two-year-old? You’re right. We’ll start her financial education by letting her play with money and getting familiar with it.
We dumped all of her money out on the table, and let her have at it. For a short while, she was fully engrossed in her little project. I even had her separating the money into piles. Her enthusiasm quickly waned when I tried to turn her fun into a learning project. She got impatient with me when I tried to explain that the big one was a quarter and the pink one was a penny.
Steve took over. They took turns dropping change into the pig, and giggling. I think Steve had more fun than Mo. When they got near the end of the pile o’ change, Steve told Moanna that I had more change for her. Her interest perked up at the prospect of more money.
“I do!?”
“Yes, in your old purse.”
“Really? I had no idea.”
I fetched my purse and began digging. After pulling out several dollars in change, and a few dozen pens, I realized Steve’s alternative motive was for me to clean out this purse and get it off of our bedroom floor. Sneaky. I continued to pull out handfuls of change, pens, markers, hair ties, receipts, medicine, gum… You name it. It was in there.
As I looked at this pile of stuff that I had pulled out of my purse, I was suddenly horrified by how much money it represented. Correction, how much wasted money it represented. Not only did I hand Moanna $10.00 plus in change, but I had pulled out hundreds of dollars in receipts. Receipts that were mostly for things that I had eaten rushing to-and-from work, or things that I no longer owned like a calendar or makeup (I don’t even wear makeup 95% of the time). I came across several expired coupons – really good coupons – coupons for things that I buy on a regular basis.
I stopped counting pens and markers when I got to twenty. Do you have any idea how many pens I have purchased because I couldn’t find something to write with? I found a bottle of pain killers, and a bottle of expired vitamins. I also found four stray prescription painkillers. Those could have really come in handy this winter. I discovered several hair ties and hair clips, a pack of mints, a pack of gum and a brand new tube of chap stick.
How much money does all of that stuff add up to? $50.00? Easily right? Add that to the $10.00 in change and the tons of receipts. That equals a crap ton (official financial terminology).
Unreal.
Maddening.
I went to bed wondering, if I found that much wasted money in one medium sized purse, how much more money had I let go to waste because of my disorganization, poor planning and stupid purchases? If I cleaned out my car or the desk, what would I find? How about the boxes and boxes of stuff that were never unpacked after we moved for the eighth time in two years?
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Here are some things to think about this weekend…
How much change is in your purse? Car? Nightstand? Couch?
What do you do with your change? Give it to your kids? Save it? Donate it? Buy yourself something pretty? Pay down debt? Buy dessert?
How much money do you waste because of disorganization, poor planning and stupid purchases?
I have a feeling these kinds of questions are going to come up again and again as we learn about money. I just hope my answers become less embarrassing over time.
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Wow, that’s amazing. You’ve inspired me to go home and follow your example. Oh, and those expired coupons? I’m right there with you, kicking myself periodically for neglecting to use the darn things.
my trouble w/coupons is that we were buying the paper for the coupons…most of which was for stuff that we didn’t buy anyways…and if we did then i’d forget. so we spent more money buying the paper for the coupons than we ever did save with those coupons.
and as far as posting, i think it would depend on how specific you’re going to get. if you’re really general than once a month is probably just fine…but if you think that might be too much (or too annoying to sift through all that info at once), then maybe once a week or once every two weeks.
We had some friends who never spent their change. If it cost a nickel, they paid with a dollar bill so they had loads of change which they put in a huge jug. It added up enough to pay for a vacation every year.
You’ve opened my eyes with this article! My son is only 8 months, but I dread the day we have to teach him about money- for fear that he’ll watch us and judge our every move!! I am right there with you on the $100′s of receipts…we buy entirely too much “STUFF” in this household! How eye-opening… I’m off to clean some purses!