Overheard a cashier budget talk and it stuck with me all week

I was at the grocery store Tuesday and this cashier was telling the guy bagging that she transfered $5 to her savings every single day, no matter what. She said at the end of the month it's $150 and she just pretends the $5 never existed. It got me thinking because I always wait for big chunks like $200 from a side job to save, and then I end up spending it on takeout. That tiny daily thing feels doable, even on my worst weeks. I tried it for 5 days straight now and honestly the weird part is I don't miss the $5 at all. Has anyone else had better luck with tiny daily transfers instead of waiting for a lump sum? How do you keep yourself from pulling it back out when the account looks low?

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pat_coleman15d ago

Used to be the exact opposite, always waiting for that big side job check to hit and then poof, it was gone on pizza and random Amazon stuff. The $5 a day thing sounds almost too small to matter, but that's what makes it stick I guess. Tried it for two weeks now and the weird part is my checking account doesn't even blink at it, it's just gone like a coffee habit I never had. When the balance looks low I just tell myself the $5 was never there in the first place, kind of a mind trick but it works. Seeing $70 pile up without even thinking about it kinda flipped a switch in my brain.