It wasn't some sort of message to the big banks -- it was a lifelong dream. When Thomas Daigle bought a home in Milford, Mass. 35 years ago he made it his mission to make his final payment in pennies.

“It was something I wanted to do,” he told the Milford Daily News. “I always follow through.”

He started collecting about 2.5 cents each day and, on rainy days, he would pack them neatly into rolls of 50. When the grape crate he used to store them eventually busted under all the weight, he switched to a pair of ammo boxes.

Daigle didn’t want to share the total amount of pennies he saved, but says his final mortgage payment weighed in at 400 pounds.

The day Daigle made his last payment also happened to be the same day he celebrated his 35^th wedding anniversary. Such a sweet coincidence!

The two pieces of advice he always gives to his children: “If you say you’re going to do something, you do it” and “Pennies add up.”