Bank It or Plank It: Financial Bingo

I am looking forward to this challenge! I hope to hear ideas on how participants make small changes to reduce spending. Does anyone have an example of something that has worked well for them in the past?

I just joined and can't wait either. Sounds fun and educational!

I make it a habit not to carry cash because then I don't impulse buy. I.e., I have to stay away from the vending machines, trinket places, etc. There are risks with not having cash, but I find it helps me to have this habit way more than it hurts me. 🙂

We use cash instead of cc; we have a budget for groceries, gas & parking. So I normally withdraw the money we need to use bi-weekly and only spend cash. We also put aside an amount that goes into the savings account every two weeks. If we have any additional or unexpected spending then we look at what we can cut to cover the additional costs. most of the time we get left over money and we take that and put it in a savings account as well. We each get a $60 stipend to buy lunch or coffee every two weeks:)

One of the best things we did when I started at Mayo is joining the Mayo Credit Union. We use and abuse the subaccounts. I am sure they cringe every time we come in and want to add yet another one. 🙂

Each pay period, we set aside 25 into one subaccount, 50 into another, etc. It is great! This way, we don't have to come up with chunks of money when Insurance payments are due, Property Taxes, etc. We have one for everything, including gift giving. It works very well!

These are all great ideas! Being able to identify our personal pitfalls and priorities is so important if we are to be successful. Like you, we use sub accounts too so we aren't blindsided by large expenses (taxes, emergency fund) and still set money aside in other accounts for things we value (kids' college funds) and the things we love like family vacations. Knowing the vacation is paid for brings a lot of peace of mind. It took a little bit of time to get to a sustainable point, but it works well and keeps us within budget. We add birthday and holiday money to the vacation account too since it's that important to us.

Hey all,
As part of the team working on this challenge, I thought I would let you know that I used one of the tips you will see in the challenge while shopping at Scheel's last night. I asked them if they would price match, and they were happy to do it. I saved $34.82 and walked out feeling like a winner. 🙂

Bank It or Plank It: Financial Bingo Tracking Card now available!

Plus a Bank It or Plank It: Financial Bingo DIGITAL Tracking Card! Save your challenge progress electronically.

Jokes of the Sea
Q: Why couldn’t the pirate crew play cards?
A: Because the captain was standing on the deck!

Share with us your goals for this challenge! What advice or education do you need to support those goals?

Answer to joke.... because he was sitting on the deck!!