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A few years ago, Bank of America came out with its Keep the Change Program which played on the old idea of throwing your charge into a jar.  Although I didn’t become a Bank of America customer, I thought the idea was ingenuous.  If you can make saving fun, or at least effortless, then it gives you yet another incentive to save money.  So, here I’ve posted some idea’s or games to play to help making saving some extra money a little more enjoyable.    

1. Pay Yourself 5% Cash Back or Your Saved Credit Card Interest

It’s always fun to get cash back rewards from a credit card (and apply them to debt snowflakes).  This idea plays on that, by suggesting that you pay yourself cash back into a separate account, based on a percentage of credit card spending.  If you spend $1000 a month on your credit card (or debit card), then transfer $50 into a special “cashback” savings account.  You can vary the amount of cash back you pay yourself depending on your budget.  If you don’t have an extra $50 to spare, then start with paying yourself 1% cash back and try to work up.  

A similar approach would be to pay yourself the interest you are saving each month by paying off your card in full (assuming, of course, that you are paying off your card in full).  Figure out what your cards interest rate is, and then multiply that amount by the amount you put on your card each month.  Then transfer that saved interest money into a savings account.  Instead of Mastercard and Visa getting rich off your interest dollars, you can.  

2. Make Bets With Yourself and Pay Yourself if you Lose

Do you like to watch football or basketball or some other sport?  Make a bet with yourself each week, for an amount of money that you can afford to lose, but that makes it interesting.  Maybe bet your weekly eating out budget, or a percentage of your “fun” allowance that your team will win.  If you lose the best with yourself, pay yourself into a savings account.  It makes the game a little more thrilling if you have money on the line, but the best part is that even when you lose, you win.  

3. Transfer your “Total Saved” into Savings

At the bottom of most grocery receipts, the stores calculate how much you saved via coupon.  Transfer that amount into savings (one exception: I’m not referring to CVSers here who routinely save thousands and thousands of dollars a year by paying only pennies for an order… those who play the drugstore game would most likely be unable to match this level of savings on a regular basis).  

You can do the same thing with other purchases you make.  Did you get that jacket for 10% off?  10% of the purchase price goes right into the savings account.  You are saving the money anyway, might as well not just go spend it at another store down the mall corridor.  

3. Create a ‘Bad Habit’ Jar

Everyone has some bad habits (come on, you know what they are!).  Kill two birds with one stone by creating a jar and putting a dollar into it every time you commit your little foible. 

4. Play “Change Games”

If you pay with cash, set a rule for yourself regarding your charge.  For example, you could say that every time the cashier gives you back a $1 bill you have to save it.  Or, every time you get handed back a new bill it goes right into savings.  

5. Pick a State

This one deals with relatively small amounts of change, but after all a penny saved is a penny earned, right.  Pick a state, and every time you get a quarter from that state you have to save a quarter.  You can make it even more challenging by saying that every time you get a quarter from that state, you put $5 or $10 or $20 away.  The odds aren’t great that you’ll get that state quarter a lot, but if you put away $20 every time you do get it, then you’ll certainly be on the lookout a little more.  

6. Pick a Date

Along the same lines as number 5, this one involves picking a Date.  If you get money that is dated before that date, you have to save it.  So, if you pick 1945 and you get a 1920’s penny, it goes right into the saving jar (might as well just throw it into the bad habits jar so that money builds up faster and you don’t have a lot of jars sitting all over the place!)

7. Charge Yourself a “Meat” Tax

Every time you eat a dinner with meat (or whatever other food that you eat that costs a little more) pay yourself a $1 tax.  If you eat meat every night, you’ll be saving between $30 and $31 a month.  Or, maybe this will convince you to try a meatless meal now and then, which will shave off the dollars on your grocery bill.  

8. Play “Beat the Budget”

Try to come in as far under budget in certain categories as you can.  Pick one to focus on- maybe utilities, and then turn your thermostat down a few degrees.  If you come in under your budget, transfer the money to savings.  You can rotate the category each month and challenge yourself to see which category you come in the lowest in.  Since it will only be a one month at a time sacrifice, it won’t feel like a budget cut but rather a fun challenge to see how low you could go if you really had to.  

9. Have a Buy Nothing Challenge

Challenge your significant other, or a friend or other family member, to have a race to see who can go the longest without buying anything (save for legit necessities like milk for your hungry children).  Set a little prize for whoever wins.  Then, see how long you can go.  

10. Participate in Online Money Saving Challenges

Check out this Save $1000 in 30 Days Challenge and try to implement some of the suggestions (or all of them!) this month to see if they can work for you.