I have savings!!
...not much, but it's a start :)
You see, I have the habit of emptying all my coins out of my purse every two days or so, because they make the purse fat and give it an unsightly bulge. Oh, and they're heavy.
So I decided I would also take out all the $1 bills, because sometimes I'm given wads of them as change when I pay for stuff. This became my method of "saving". It might not be very high-tech, it might not be very scientific, and it might not make me a millionaire... but at least it works. And, as the Malay saying goes, "Sedikit-sedikit lama-lama menjadi bukit." (Literally, "Little by little, a mountain is formed," or something like that. It's hard to translate sayings poetically. I should know, because I tried. For all of ten minutes.)
Throughout the year, there've been at least two times when I was desperate enough to count all my $1 bills and coins and take 'em to the bank to get, uh, "proper" money which I could use. Saved my life, it did. I did not starve. *cue dramatic music*
Last week, I counted all my change again and banked the sum into a separate savings account -- one I don't have an ATM card for. I'm not supposed to touch the money in this account; it was set up ages ago for this very purpose (to help me save money) but has been inactive since 1999!
Well... the sum didn't quite reach four digits, but it was at least more than $500. The first REAL savings I've ever had. *dreamy sigh*
Given my horrible history with money, I never thought the day would come when I'd actually have savings. Real life, honest-to-goodness, tangible savings!
It is, for me, something to celebrate. The last time I told Dad I had $300 in accumulated small change, he scoffed at me. "You've worked for two years and you have $300 in savings? And that's, what, all in coins?" Like as if to say, "Big deal!"
But I don't care. It IS a big deal to me. I'm happy. I'm more than happy -- I'm thrilled. I never really believed the day would come when I had money in the bank which I knew wouldn't disappear by the end of the month, if you know what I mean. For the longest time, I've wanted to stop living from paycheque to paycheque, and I'm hoping this will be the start of good new things. I'll be going to the bank tomorrow to hopefully put in a standing order to transfer a certain amount of cash from my usual account to this account every month.
My company also paid out year-end bonuses last week; mine went entirely into my credit card as well as to an accumulated phone bill. Sad to say the credit card balance is STILL not within manageable limits, although substantially reduced. That, too, is an encouragement. Baby steps...