We’ve been asking college students for the piggy bank saving strategies that they had growing up or while still in college.

We were surprised at the amount of students who actually used piggy banks. Here’s what they did…

A friend of mine goes on vacation every year with his family. In his kitchen is a ginormous piggy bank that kind of looks like those fancy ash trays outside of museums - the long neck, big bottom. Every time someone from his family comes home, they put any change they have on them in the piggy bank. Come vacation time, they split up the money between him and his two brothers for spending money.

Another friend empties out the change from his car cup holder, and puts it in a tin lock box. When the lock box gets filled up, he takes it to CoinStar at the local grocery store and cashes in. The only downside to this is that you pay almost $.11 cents at some places; that’s the cost of convenience and fast cash. I’ve actually started to employ the idea of putting the change from my car into a piggy bank.

One girl had saved up money her entire life, and when her piggy bank was filled up, she took it to the bank and put it in a CD. I guess a piggy bank filled with change can be deceiving - there’s a lot more money in them than you would think. The worst part about this idea is rolling up the cash yourself. But think about it - you gather lose change and over the course of a year, or two years, you have enough money for, say, a $500 CD. You invest it in a 4% CD computed annually - that’s an extra $20 bucks for literally driving to the bank. And although you worked for that $500, it’s really just the remnants of past expenditures.

Click here to read about The Three Benefits of Investing in CDs

Click here to read FAQs about CDs: Answered

Click here to read about The FDIC and how you’re money is insured.

It’s all about how you look at it. $.03 will get you nowhere. But $.03 x 2,000 is $60.

When I was a broke college student, I came up with a simple strategy - I cut out one item that I frequently purchased. I remember during fall semester one year, on average I had purchased a cup of coffee a day, five days a week, for let’s say about 15 weeks. That’s $1.99 (~$2) x 5 x 15 = $150. I started to make coffee at my house (thanks, mom and dad) and put two dollars a day (or $10 a week, whatever was easiest) into my piggy bank. But I didn’t save this money… I probably cashed in and went out with friends (several sausage, egg and cheese McMuffin’s were probably purchased with this money at 3 a.m.)

The method of piggy banking I currently use now is a set amount from each a paycheck. This saving should be aside from any IRA or 401(k) contributions you make - saving should be done irrespective of other savings. Continue to contribute to your Roth, Traditional, or 401(k), but the extra piggy savings really does add up.

Click here to read about the differences between a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA and a 401(k).

A good method of saving a good friend of ours suggested was the $1 bill rule: at the end of the day, any one dollar bills go into his piggy bank, regardless of how many there are or how many days a week he does this. I bet this adds up over the long run!

Click here to read Eight Saving Strategies for Students.

It’s always good to have have emergency cash on you, and having a piggy bank is a great way to get that started (especially if it’s a pain in the ass to open). You never know when there may be an error on your credit card, checking account, bills etc. Most of the time, you have to pay the amount and then file to receive your money back. In most cases you will receive your money back, but having that money to front in an emergency will keep you in a comfortable financial position - you won’t have to sacrifice income for life and leisure to bail yourself out.

Speaking of bailout, click here to read about the U.S. Government’s bailout of the financial industry.

It’s tough to save in a piggy bank. Intuitively, you have to feel obligated to yourself. If you do that, there’s no regret in putting money into the piggy bank.

Just future satisfaction.

Click here to open up an E*Trade Savings account.

Click here to open up an HSBC Direct Savings Plus account.

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