A dollar for the jar.

Patrick and I work at the same company (at least, we do for the next five weeks).  Right after we moved in together we cut a hole in the top of a Mason jar and from that point onward, added money every time we talked about work at home.  The amount of the deposit varied by topic and duration of conversation, ranging from $0.50 all the way up to $5.00.  It was a good reminder for us to leave the job at the office and enjoy our down time, and the proceeds were withdrawn every so often to purchase a nice bottle of whiskey.

When a 2013 departure recently started to look like a reality, we stopped removing dollars and decided to use that money for something specific for the trip - our Canadian National Parks passes.  Like the US National Park system, Canada allows you to purchase an annual pass good at all parks, marine conservation areas and historic sites.  We definitely want to see as much of Canada as possible, get some good hiking in, and hopefully do lots of camping as well - so this seemed like a good investment.

 plus or minus, depending

I don't know how much is in the jar right now.  I do know that it's definitely more than the cost of our Canadian National Park passes.  I also know that I've made additional deposits including the $100 bill I got from friends at Christmas ("for when you are sick to death of grungy hostels and just want a nice hotel") and the proceeds from selling DVDs and CDs back to Music Millennium.  I'm sure that some money from our forthcoming "estate sale" will make its way into the jar as well...

And I'm not sure what will replace our jar on the road - the receptacle or the reason for the deposit.  We don't plan to splurge on much but we both have our own creature comforts that will be even more important as we adapt to constantly being on the go.  So I'm sure we will think of something.  Ideas welcome.

(We also have a loose change jar in the form of a red velvet Buddha... but that's a story for another day.)