Marie came up with one simple money trick. It saved her $36,000.

I’m not going to beat around the bush: I’m shocking when it comes to saving money. Deplorable, even.

I’m not one to splurge my hard-earned clams on fancy clothes and I don’t enjoy my weekends galavanting the coast (I spend them on the couch watching Friday Night Lights). Instead, I waste my money on the teeny tiny little stuff – like overpriced Melbourne coffees, the odd Uber fare when I’m too lazy to catch the train, $10 vodka sodas on a night out – you know, the stuff I forget I’m actually paying for.

I’ve never ‘pinched my pennies’, and now more than ever it’s glaringly obvious I need to change that.

Enter Marie Campagna Franklin, the super saving woman who is CHANGING MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE with her simple penny pinchin’ trick.

I don't even know how I found Marie's blog, Save Money Fast With Fives, but holy smokes I am I happy I did. Because this lady has truckloads of financial wisdom ($36,000 worth, to be precise) and she is making me feel like I'm some savvy investment banker.

You're itching to know the secret, aren't you? Well, it's your lucky day friend, because it is my pleasure to spread the word of my saviour.

Marie's advice is very simple: Never spend a $5 note. Never. Not again in your life. $5 notes are officially off limits. Instead, you're gonna take that sweet, sweet pink slip of plastic and save it. YOU'RE GONNA SAVE EVERY SINGLE ONE. Put it in a box. Put it under your pillow. IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER - JUST SAVE IT DAMMIT. And, in 12 years time, you might just find yourself with an extra $36k to your name.

I've been following her sheeny, pinkish, plastic path for a week now, and guess what? I'm $45 richer. It's official. I'm elated. I'm a believer. I'm empowered and totally on the road to "building my nest egg" like Marie is always telling me to.

Being a person who is completely devoid of spirituality, this is the closest I've ever come to feeling like a religious disciple, so forgive me if I sound like a member of a weird cult but you seriously have to join me and do this $5 thing right now.

If you need some helpful tips, here are the very best pearls of wisdom I learnt from Marie's blog:

Go old school. You're gonna be making some trips to the ATM machine.

Always use your card? Start withdrawing cash instead. This makes you more conscious of what you're spending your coin on. Also, it's gonna be kinda hard to save $5 notes if you, you know, never actually have cash on you.

"Gasoline? Groceries? Lunches at work? Tolls or transit tickets for commuting? That daily purchase of bottled water? Using cash just for lunches, for instance, especially if you pay for lunch every day at work, will help you jumpstart your $5 savings plan. Try it. In no time, you’ll see what I mean."

Stick to the rules, punk.

Once you get into this thing, you need to stick with it for life... kinda like veganism or Scientology.

Watch below to see how retailers are tricking you into spending more. Post continues after video... 

Because you can't just be a fair weather follower of this $5 savings plan. This is a plan for life. You need to commit to saving those fivers. BECOME those five dollar notes. You mustn't start splurging your fives on a jumbo pack of Butter Menthols because you have a scratchy throat - it doesn't work that way, okay? Okay?! As Marie explains...

"....Firm. No negotiation. Nada. No."

"As with anything else in life, you are in charge of how things turn out. You’re the producer, director, and star of your own show. With money, or anything else, I say, go for the Oscar, aim for the stars. High fives!"

Good GOD she's brilliant #AllHailMarie

When I said 'only save $5 notes', I totally lied.

Okay, so it's not strictly the pink plastic you're saving here. Marie recommends you also group together your gold coins to make up $5 and occasionally save that for an extra savings boost. Because #gainz.

"Singles are a great reminder that a lot of our daily impulse purchases (a candy bar, a can of soda, a bottle of water) are unnecessary when you have to peel off several singles to pay for them."

Before I leave you all to go save some serious dosh, I just want to add that Marie signs off every blog with the same phrase "Yours in Fives". I know - I KNOW - she's perfection.

Marie Campagna Franklin, I owe you my life.

For more of Marie's marvellous wisdom, follow her blog here.

Do you like the idea of the $5 savings trick?