Give me five

A few months ago, March to be exact - I decided to start saving 5 dollar bills. I made a vow to not spend ANY fives. I have kept that vow, making me wonder why I don't have such willpower when it comes to giving up Mt. Dew.

I was going to save these fives for a specific purpose - a vacation fund. It seems as if everywhere I go, my change is given to me in five dollar bills.

A prime example would be this morning when I went to get Ryan some medicine after yet another x-ray. I had given Bill all of my cash last night to take the kids to an Otters baseball game, so I drove through the bank and got 20 bucks.

The first store I went to my change was 6 bucks, so there of course was a five -- leaving me with 1 dollar, should I need cash. Then I went to CVS and on the cash back option with my debit card I chose 10 dollars. My change -- 2 fives. So before I ever even made it to church today I had added 15 bucks to the fund yet still only had 1 buck to spend.

It's been like that just about every time I spend money. When I went to the track last week, I would place my bet with a 20 and the woman would give me back fives. Betting could have gotten very expensive doing it that way if I hadn't started winning.

I told God if He really wanted me to take a vacation with Bill, then I would be able to pay for it with just five dollar bills I saved between then and time to go. I'm thinking God is all for this joint vacation. I started a little vacation fund at the bank with my fives and in less than 4 months, I have saved almost 1200 dollars.

So if you are looking for a semi-painless way to save, maybe you could try something along these lines. It worked for me!