You can never go wrong with a money-saving challenge! It's a great way to bulk up your savings account or save for something special. Choose from three different types and get some great ideas on where to find the money to save for it!
Challenge. There's something in the word that gets your blood pumping, either good or bad. For some, you hear the word and are ready to take it on, regardless of what it's talking about. For others, you're possibly hyperventilating into a paper bag already. Hang on for a hot second and let's just chat for a minute!
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A money saving challenge is so important for a number of reasons! It helps you focus on saving some money and gives you a time frame to do it in. There's no guessing on how much you have to save and when, we literally lay it all out for you! We have three different challenges for you to choose from, all with varying amounts of difficulty.
Before we get into the nitty gritty, let's go over the…
REASONS TO DO A MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE
Why exactly would somebody want to do a money saving challenge? Well, we're so glad you asked! 😉 There are a few reasons you may find yourself in the position of wanting to join this challenge:
- To Build up Your Family Savings – As we have suggested before, you should have 3 months' worth of cash in your family savings account at all times. This is to be used in the case of a short-term emergency and something you don't want to be caught without having!
- To Build up Your Emergency Savings – The emergency savings is one you want to constantly be putting money into each month. You should have at least 6- to 12-months' worth of cash in your emergency savings account for those dire circumstances we hope will never happen.
- To Save for a Trip – If you've got a dream vacation coming up, then this is the perfect way to save for a vacation quickly! You can get the whole family involved and save that much quicker.
- To Save for Something You've Been Wanting to Buy – For those who have had your eye on something for a while, this is a great way to save up during those 3 months while you're taking the time to shop around and find the absolute best price!
You could have a lot more reasons than those, but they're the major players on what can motivate you to not only start, but complete your money saving challenge! Really dig deep and find your why. You'll be so much more motivated when you know the reason behind doing the challenge.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MONEY SAVING CHALLENGES
You can go a few different ways with your challenge. We're all in different legs of our budget journeys with different financial goals and no two people are the same. What might've worked for your friend's cousin's aunt may not even be doable for you. Do whichever works best for you and don't worry about anybody else!
PENNY CHALLENGE
In this daily money saving challenge, you start by saving a penny on the first day. On the second day, you'll save two pennies. On the tenth day, you'll save ten cents, and so on. The most you'll save in a day will be $3.65, on the last day of the year. By doing the penny challenge, you'll save $667.95 in the year!
You can literally save pennies and put them in a jar if that's your cup of tea. We won't judge what motivates you! You can also transfer that amount each day from your checking account to your savings account. If that seems a bit much, then move a week's worth at a time. As long as you're physically putting money in your savings account, it doesn't matter how it gets there.
If you're feeling really good about it, then feel free to double those amounts for each day and you'll really be able to save some moolah! But don't feel pressured to do so. As you can see, saving your pennies can really add up. So if that's all you can do for the time being, then that's okay! You're a freakin' rockstar and you should get excited that you're doing a money saving challenge in the first place.
WEEKLY MONEY CHALLENGE
Want a bit more of a challenge? Try this weekly challenge! Save $1 in week one of the year, $2 in week two, $10 in week ten, and so on until you reach saving $52 in the last week of the year. Doing so will save you $1,378! What? Yup, you read that right.
Does the thought of saving that much money around the holidays throws you off? You can also reverse it and you'll save the same amount. Start with the highest amount first and end with the smallest amount. Although if you're budgeting for the holidays like we suggest, then it really shouldn't matter to you!
As with the penny money saving challenge, you can also double these amounts if you're really wanting a challenge and need to save even more money. You do you, boo.
12-MONTH MONEY CHALLENGE
Want to go straight to just saving a lump sum each month? Then this is the money saving challenge for you! It's an easy way to move money to your savings account each month and the amounts are pretty easy to remember and save.
- January – $25
- February – $50
- March – $75
- April – $100
- May – $125
- June – $150
- July – $150
- August – $125
- September – $100
- October – $75
- November – $50
- December – $25
By doing this money saving challenge, you can save a total of $1,050! Not too shabby for moving money from your checking to your savings twelve times.
HOW TO KEEP UP WITH YOUR MONEY YOU'VE SAVED
Our free printable money saving charts are the best (and cutest!) ways to keep up with what you've saved! Just print 'em off and color them in as you save that money.
HOW TO “FIND” THE MONEY TO SAVE
Alright, you may be thinking that this money saving challenge sounds awesome, but you have absolutely no clue where the money is going to come from. Whether you're on a super strict budget with no money to spare or you have a purpose and plan for all of your money, we promise you'll still be able to do this!
DO A SPENDING FREEZE
If you're looking for one of the best and quickest ways to save some money, then this is your ticket! It's such a big thing for us, we have a whole post about that goes into detail over a spending freeze! Basically, you don't spend any money for 7 days in a row, besides bills and utilities that you have to pay. No buying groceries (shelf cooking to the rescue!), no eating out, no going to the movies… Nothing that requires you to spend any money out of pocket.
At the end of the week, you take the money you saved and put it towards your money saving challenge. It's a great way to save some money fast!
CUT OUT YOUR NORMAL “VICES”
We're talking your daily soda, Starbucks, eating out, or anything you like to have, but don't necessarily need to have. Instead of ordering take out, put the money you would have spent on it in your savings. If you were willing to spend it, then you can afford to SAVE it instead!
Figure out how much it would be to make your favorite drink at home and subtract that from the cost of what you would normally order. Every time you skip the drive thru, add that money to your savings. If you have a habit of grabbing a drink regularly, then that amount will really add up!
Have a favorite meal you love to go out to eat for? Make it at home! Figure out what the meal would cost you if you got it at the restaurant. Then, figure out what the meal costs you to make at home. Put whatever amount you saved by making it at home towards your money saving challenge.
Do you absolutely HAVE to go out to eat? For those times you just can't help it, skip the drinks and only get water! If you can't stand their water (because let's be honest, some restaurants have the worst water), then take drink additive pouches with you. You'll be surprised at how much money you'll save on not getting drinks for 2, 3, or even 8 people!
PICK UP A SIDE JOB
Another great way to hit your money saving challenge goals is to get a side hustle. Whether you're a stay-at-home-mom or you work full time, we have a few great ways that can help you earn some extra monay monay!
- These 12 apps to earn money can help you find a gig job you can do on the side.
- We've got some great side hustles for all of you stay-at-home-mommas!
- Turn your hobby into some decent cashola!
You really can't go wrong with any of those and some of them you're able to do from your own home.
PUT YOUR SPARE CHANGE TOWARDS THE MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE
Where are all of our cash-paying Freebs at?! If you pay for items with cash, then save all your spare change and put it towards your money saving challenge. Even if you don't pay with cash for everything, there are some banks, cards, and apps that will save your “spare change” for you, such as Acorn. If this sounds up your alley, then you should definitely look into it!
WAIT TO MAKE YOUR AMAZON PURCHASE
Okay, Amazon lovers! Here's a great way to save some money for your challenge. Instead of checking out as soon as you add items to your Amazon cart, leave them in there and place one order per week or month. When your order day comes around, make sure you still need what’s in your cart. If you take something out, add that total to your savings!
This helps keep you from making any impulse buys and allows you some time to think about if you really need everything in your cart. Plus, Amazon will let you know if anything in your cart has lowered in price, so it's a great way to save a little extra money on the things you do need. Winning!
Alright! Now you know all about the different money saving challenges, which one are you going to shoot for? Let us know in the comments and we'll all cheer each other on!
Want even more ways to help you save money? Then you need to check out Budget Boot Camp! It's a fun online video program that makes your budget and money easy to understand.
We're so sure you'll love it, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee if you don't save at least as much as you paid for it. You've got nothing to lose! Use the code FCFBLOG for 10% off, just because!
Check out these other great ideas from Fun Cheap or Free!
- Have some debts that you need to pay off before you can save any money? Use our simple steps to get out of debt!
- Check out the 70% rule and learn how to afford spending, saving, and investing on ANY income!
- Need help with your grocery budget? See how you can save up to half on your groceries!
Go crush your money saving challenge!
whatever I have left in my checking the night before payday I will put in my savings. I’ve done this for 9 months and saved $5,515, and I’m not done yet : )