My son asked me the other day what the point of saving 10c is because it can’t buy anything. He has a point; quite frankly any coin under 50c is just annoying and makes your purse heavy.
However, the previous week I had been at lunch with some women who shared with me their piggy bank saving stories after having read the FNB Bank Your Change article.
One woman’s six year old daughter saved all her coins she received as change from her pocket money into a piggy bank. Eventually the container became too full so her mother counted it. It came to R600!
Another woman was saving for a trip to London with her daughter. They decided to save money towards their tickets for the London underground by saving all their R2 and R5 coins into Berocca vitamin tubes. They managed to save R5 000 in a few months and now will be enjoying a shopping spree too.
Saving is not about having extra money, it’s about having the discipline to do something with it other than spend it. So my answer to my son was “ten 10c pieces become R1”. He was suitably impressed and added it to his piggy bank.