Ben Franklin once said "A penny saved is a penny earned". In today's world, a penny accumulated here and there doesn't sound like much, especially with the cost of living continuously rising, but surprisingly enough you can save money by holding onto that loose change. The key to using a money box or piggy bank to increase your savings is to do something with it once you raise significant dollar amounts.

There are many ways you can fatten up your piggy's tummy:

*Do a clean up. Doing a periodic sweep to collect the coins lying around in your home, car, coat pockets and handbags adds up. Once you begin to keep track, you'll be astonished how many coins accumulate monthly around your living spaces that you probably never noticed.

*Bring home the change from shopping excursions. Trying to consciously remember to empty your pockets and place any change received from shopping directly into piggy instead of forgetting about it adds up after a while (plus it beats fishing it out of the bottom of your washing machine). How many of us bother to count all the change we're handed after buying some odds and ends at the local mart? All this change adds up!

*"Found money". Ever change out your pocketbook, coat, or wallet and discover a few dollar bills (or if you're lucky - more!) stashed in one of the compartments or pockets? You didn't really miss the money in the first place, so why not just deposit it to your bank and give a good boost to your growing collection of coins?

*Make it a family affair. Ask your family to deposit their change into the box too. My kids and I began diligently tossing all of our coins into our "jar" and before we knew it, we'd collectively saved over $200 to use towards a planned vacation.

*Once the money goes in, don't take it out. Borrowing from your stash defeats the purpose of trying to save, so make yourself a firm promise to yourself to leave it alone until enough accumulates to spend on that special purchase or to deposit into a bank account.

Depositing change into your money box can prove lucrative over the course of time, it won't necessarily make you rich, but before you know it you're likely to find your piggy bank having a healthy expansion and this happened without impacting any money you needed to meet monthly expenses. Saving change is a neat way to find money for the "extras" that you normally wouldn't spend money on. A good rule of thumb is to tally your treasure every so often and then go deposit it into an interest earning account to maximize your savings if you weren't waiting to buy something specific. Once the savings deposits funds grow you can find better ways to invest or add to other investments you may have.

Plus it's fun to realize you accomplished saving money with little effort. If you have kids, it teaches them the value of a dollar and how saving and not splurging every time they have extra money can yield some nice benefits.

Learn more about this author, Leigh Goessl.
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