Money Monday: Money Games

We've been talking about the importance of saving money. A lot of people feel that saving money is..

            Hard work

            No fun

            Too confusing

Actually one of the best ways to start saving money and have fun doing it is to play money games. A money game is any way you make it fun to regularly save, even in small amounts.. Some money games to try:

The Change game

Empty your change at the end of the day and keep it in a jar or container of your choice.

1’s and 5’s

A variation of the change game but consists of stashing away $1 and $5 bills.

Save a latte

The latte you have each day costs about $3. This game watches for those opportunities to choose saving small amounts of money. Can you choose saving over a latte even once or twice/week? Can you choose saving instead of buying a magazine? What are the other small items you can pass up in order to build savings?

‘Found’ or Bonus money - when you come into some unexpected cash do you let it disappear..Sure it goes to something, but too often it's gone quickly and sadly we often don't even know where it went. Instead you can use it to help fund a money goal.

What's a money goal?

It's anything you want to save money for. One money goal would of course, be emergency savings. But for now, let’s have some fun. Think of something you’d like but have felt you couldn’t afford. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. For now a smaller goal will be more manageable and help you experience a money game in action.

Decide on a small money goal: designer handbag, trip to a nearby amusement park, dinner at that fancy restaurant you heard about. It’s up to you. What's important is that it's something YOU want and that you feel good saving for it.

Now choose one or more money games that you’ll use to fund the money goal you’ve set. Again, the choice is up to you, just try to have fun as you find ways to fund the goal you've set.

I’d love to hear the goal you’ve chosen and what games you’ve decided to play. Be sure to share your experiences in the comments section to each post.