Saving challenges have grown in popularity recently. Across the net, I’ve seen the popular 365 day money saving challenge springing up everywhere in various forms. Many sites offer these free printable money saving challenges and they are popular in people looking to systematically fund the following year’s Christmas outlay. Or, to recover from the depressing finances of a previous December.
We all like the positive vibes of seeing a savings pot grow, it’s human nature. Brand saving schemes like Sainsbury’s popular Nectar scheme and their double-up event, show how this is the case.
I’ve also regularly seen people fail these free printable money saving challenges because of the way they are designed. In 2023, most will fail in their saving endeavours using these free challenges because of the nature of how costs, expenditures and inflation change during a year.
The traditional 365 day, 52 week saving challenge and why it fails
The most common saving challenge sets out the guidelines for saving an increasing amount every day. For example, on the first day, you’ll put 1p into a jar. On day two, you’ll add in 2p, and so on throughout the year. While you’ll amass a good amount if you succeed, it will mean you’re paying out around £25 a week in the last month of 2023. This last month is December, therefore it’s the time when most people are usually cash-strapped.
Similarly, the well-publicised 365-day £1 money saving challenge has potential flaws. This is where you’re putting in £1 in week 1, £2 in week 2 etc. It still ends up with weeks 48-52 requiring a staggering £200 from your funds at the worst time for finances. Let’s face it, for most in 2023, December is going to be the trickiest to save in – particularly if heating costs are rising and temperatures are dropping.
Try the Free Reverse Saving Challenge or The Peak Challenge
You can adapt the previously mentioned challenges to start or end and other times of the year. This might help some savers, depending on their saving personality. But for us, we still wanted funds available for the winter pot for the family to use.
OPTION 1: The Free Peak Money Saving Challenge
Start easy in January with £1 increments per week. Until week 26 where you’ll have raised £351. Then at that point, carry on saving week by week with decreasing amounts. Reducing by £1 a week from that point makes it at it’s most affordable in the last months. Making it manageable. You’ll have £351 from either side of the “peak”, meaning a £702pot, which is realistic for most.
OPTION 2: The Reverse Printable Money Saving Challenge
This works with either of the traditional 365 money saving challenges. But it sets out to have the biggest outlays in the beginning of the year, meaning you’re getting the worst out of the way first. I’m a big fan of the book “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy. The American author sets out great methods for life that prioritise getting life’s biggest chores and tasks out of the way first. With this reverse money saving challenge, you are doing just that. You’re tackling the biggest, ugliest payments your going to face and popping them into your savings first. You’re “Eating that frog!” and making a great start to saving in 2023!
The reverse saving is pretty straight forwards. But, I’ve included below a free downloadable planner for my Peak Saving Idea, please do feel free to print them off and trial them. Hopefully, you’ll find these methods of saving truly effective at not only saving – but also succeeding.
It should be added that I’ve found this particularly useful for helping out with unexpected winter events like boiler issues. Having this pot meant I didn’t have to dip into the main family finances for anything.
Download our free printable money saving challenge PDF here (1mb download)
Please let us know during the year how you get on if you choose to try our saving challenge.
The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.
Each day, fill up one envelope with the amount of cash corresponding to the number on the envelope. You can fill up the envelopes in order or pick them at random. After you've filled up all the envelopes, you'll have a total savings of $5,050.
Take stock of your savings At the end of 100 days, you'll have 100 envelopes containing $5,050. That's right—1 + 2 + 3 + 4 and every other number through 100 equals just over $5,000.
Match each week's savings amount with the number of the week in your challenge. In other words, you'll save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week, and so on until you put away $52 in week 52.
Take 100 envelopes and write the number 1 to 100 on them. This number is the number of pounds you'll need to add to the envelope. Each week, pick out two envelopes at random and put the amount shown on the front into them.
To begin, a good rule to follow is the 50/30/20 method: 50% of funds go to needs, 30% wants and 20% to financial goals. Make an envelope for each category that applies: rent, utilities, phone bill, gas, groceries, emergency, savings and leisure. Put aside cash in each envelope corresponding to the amount used.
Saving over $1,000 in a month may sound really hard, especially if you aren't used to saving money. The 30-Day Savings Challenge helps you to gradually save up the money to reach your goal of $1,000. On the first day, you are only saving $5! Yep, that's right, only $5! I know you can hit that goal!
There are no complicated rules to remember. Week 1, you save $1.00. Week 2 you save $2.00, and it continues through the year, adding one more dollar to each week's savings goal. By Week 52, you'll set aside $52.00, which will bring the year's total savings to $1,378!
Envie is a game that helps you save a small amount of money every day. (Like if the #envelopechallenge was an app!) Play for 100 days and cash out your savings at the end. Simple as that!
The 365-Day Penny Challenge: With this challenge, people make a daily savings deposit and increase their deposit by a penny a day. At the end of a year, they have $667.95 of savings.
The answer to that question depends on interest rates or rates of return. With no interest involved, putting one dollar a day into a bank account (or a jar at home) will see you end up with $365 in a year. Multiply that amount by 30 years and you'll end up with $10,950.
The seven percent savings rule provides a simple yet powerful guideline—save seven percent of your gross income before any taxes or other deductions come out of your paycheck. Saving at this level can help you make continuous progress towards your financial goals through the inevitable ups and downs of life.
There are 12 weeks in a 3-month timeline, which means there are 6 bi-weeks. In order to save $5,000 in three months, you'll need to save just over $833 every two weeks with your biweekly budget. If you're paid bi-weekly, you can easily compare your bi-weekly savings goal with your paycheck.
The child genius had realised that if you group the numbers from 1 to 100 in pairs, the sum is equal to (1 + 100) + (2 + 99) + (3 + 98) + … In other words, 101 + 101 + 101 + … Since there are 50 pairs of numbers, the sum is 101 x 50 = 5050. The 100 envelope challenge is a way of saving £5050 in 25 weeks.
There are no complicated rules to remember. Week 1, you save $1.00. Week 2 you save $2.00, and it continues through the year, adding one more dollar to each week's savings goal. By Week 52, you'll set aside $52.00, which will bring the year's total savings to $1,378!
Introduction: My name is Mr. See Jast, I am a open, jolly, gorgeous, courageous, inexpensive, friendly, homely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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