Savings and Loan

Dear Shawn,

Last year, just before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, I heard an idea on line about saving money for one’s emergency fund. The idea was to save all the singles. At the end of every day, any singles you had left in your wallet, you should stash them away. Of course, I use singles so much, I didn’t think this would work very well for me. And no, I don’t use them on dancers at those places near the airport. I use them for tips for the van drivers and hotel staff, so I didn’t want to go with that plan, but I did want to try something.

Instead of singles, I decided that for 2017, I would pull out any fives I had left. At first, I avoided spending fives at all. It seemed like I was putting away far more than I thought I wanted to save, so after a month or so, I just spent whatever, and any time I got home, any fives in my wallet were pulled out and saved.

Now that it’s 2018, I went into my stash and found that I had nearly $500 in fives. I thought this was fairly impressive. With no effort, with no financial hardship, I suddenly have access to an easy half thou! (Is that a thing? Half thousand, like half a million? I guess a half thou for me is the same as a half mill for someone like Warren Buffett.)

So, the savings continues. I continue to pull fives out of my wallet for 2018. But something odd is happening. It seems like lately, all I’m getting back in change are fives. Last week, my schedule had me buying breakfast and lunch more than usual. I’d give a twenty and exact change and instead of a ten and five, I’d get three fives. This has happened so often, that in just one month, I’ve already got $80 in my coffers!

I can’t help but wonder if they aren’t printing more fives, as if saving them all of last year created a shortage. Don’t you wish I had that kind of influence on the US economy? I sure do!