A penny saved is a penny earned - we’ve all heard the phrase. There’s lots of variations on it too:
The Penny Saved is a penny earned

and some funny ones too:
A penny saved is a penny plus interest earned
A penny saved is a penny earned — and taxed.

Ok so the truth is, I don’t even like the phrase, its pretty cliche. But I figured after all this time calling this site that, I should probably do a little blurb to explain it for a little bit of Monday fun and start a little experiment. The original quote is indeed “A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned” by Benjamin Franklin. After looking up some quotes pages apparently a lot of the cheesy quotes we hear on a day to day basis came out his mouth.

So what does a penny saved is a penny earned mean exactly?
The general gist is pretty easy. Every penny you can save on something, is one less penny you have to earn, thus it is a penny earned. It could be extended though: for every penny you save and then invest, in 45 years that penny has turned into a dollar (assuming 11% interest rate).

If I saved a penny a day and invested it at 11% interest, how much would I have in 40 years?
$2,357.27

I read somewhere that the average american goes by 6 cents per day just laying around. I dont know if that includes in penny holders at gas station counters or driving in your car or what, but if you were to save that 6 cents a day, that would be $21.90 in one year, and if invested yearly at 11% that would be $14,143.61 after 40 years.

Well, I am going to test this out.  Thats right, I am going to start picking up pennies, and actively watching for them.  I am curious exactly how many pennies we pass by or throw out or get rid of per day.  I am going to track this  and post it in a nice little graphic.

Oh and I just found my first one laying on the ground, no joke.

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