Handmade Banks (or, Why Everyone Needs a Woodworking Grandpa)

Everyone wishes they had a woodworker for a grandpa. Someone to build neat toys for you that you can pass on to your own children some day.

Well, guess what? I do have that grandpa! And this is no "sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, whittling away at a block of wood" grandpa. No, he has huge (and scary) machines, heaping wood piles, and some serious style.

Over the years, he's made a bunny-shaped coat hanger and various animal puzzles for Kayden. He made a book-thong holder for me. And a huge, sturdy rocking horse that I pretended was for Kayden, but it was actually for me too.

He also lets me shoot guns when I visit, but that's another post for another day:

So why am I bragging about my grandpa and waving around all the awesome things he makes for us? Because he is now selling some awesome stuff in the Hermits of Afton Etsy shop. Yes, you too can have a woodworking grandpa!

His first line of products is of the awesomely clever and fun wooden banks. Each one has a theme which is great for either men or women, while the craftsmanship and durability makes it great for kids too.

Get a bank and start saving up for...

...a new music instrument:

...a round of golf:

...escaping Arizona:

...just the hell of it. Because, face it, you are a responsible kid/adult who likes saving money, right?

(The irony of spending money to save money is not lost on me.)

Let me tell you a story about saving money: I don't really do it well. In fact, I forget that I have a savings account. This is normally a good thing, because it means you're not withdrawing from that account. But in my case, it means I'm not depositing anything into it either.

So how do I save money? I don't spend my change. At all. I just keep it in my pocket. Then each night, I drop all of my change into a bank. That's it.  And because I don't really want to pay for a skirt with dimes and nickels, I don't spend that money. As a result, it accumulates.  Last month, I dumped all that change into a coin counter at the bank. Guess how much a month of saving coins produced?

$175.

Seriously. After a month of dropping coins in a bank each night.

Of course, if you have no qualms about buying dinner with those dimes and nickels, there are handy ways of retrieving your money from these banks:

Start reaping the benefits of a woodworking grandpa today!