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.
You can save over $5,000 in just over three months with the 100 envelope challenge. It works like this: Gather 100 envelopes and number them from 1 to 100.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.
Setting realistic savings goals is essential to ensure that you don't set yourself up for failure. One way to do this is by breaking down your target amount into smaller milestones. For example, if you aim to save $10,000 in three months, you can divide it into monthly targets of $3,333.
You'll end the challenge with over $1,300 saved If you successfully complete the 52-week money challenge, you'll have $1,378 set aside. You may have that earmarked for a specific financial goal —or you may choose to put it in a high-yield savings account as the start of emergency savings, if you don't already have one.
The benefit of the 100 Envelopes Challenge is that it starts small and encourages constant, conscious saving that builds quickly. But the trend—and the internet's obsession with buying “aesthetic” envelopes for it—may not be the most effective way to put away money, according to financial experts.
Once you reach 100 days, take out the envelope and count all of your cash. If you fill each envelope with the correct amount of cash, you should have $5,050 saved up in just over 3 months.
On each envelope, write the day number and the amount you need to save for that day. For instance, on the first envelope, you would write "Day 1: $1" and on the second envelope "Day 2: $2", and so on all the way to Day 100: $100. Each day, you take the envelope for that day and put the designated amount of cash inside.
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!
The plan is refreshingly easy, even for the math-challenged: set aside $3 in the first week and put it into a savings account. Then add another $3 each week after, so $6 is saved in week two, $9 in week three, and so on. By week 26, when the final deposit of $78 is made, the savings will total $1,053.
The 100-envelope challenge can make it fun to dedicate more cash to savings. Using envelopes labeled 1 to 100, you could set aside more than $5,000 over 100 days. If you can't afford to stash that much, you could halve the amount of cash you set aside or stretch out the number of days the challenge lasts.
That is what this challenge is all about: taking 21 days to make some drastic, but realistic, changes in order to save at least $500 each month. If you are anything like I was, you probably have more bills and payments due each month than you have money coming in.
Evaluate income and expenses. To make room for saving, you'll need a meticulous budget that outlines all your sources of income and all your expenditures. ...
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.
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.
Breaking down the total amount into smaller chunks can transform an overwhelming goal into an achievable plan: Monthly: Save approximately $1,667 each month. Weekly: This breaks down to about $417 per week.
On each envelope, write the day number and the amount you need to save for that day. For instance, on the first envelope, you would write "Day 1: $1" and on the second envelope "Day 2: $2", and so on all the way to Day 100: $100. Each day, you take the envelope for that day and put the designated amount of cash inside.
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Introduction: My name is Jamar Nader, I am a fine, shiny, colorful, bright, nice, perfect, curious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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