52 Week Money Challenge Free Printable.
There are a lot of different ways to save money. But perhaps one of the most fun ways to approach saving is with a challenge! Challenging yourself to save more and more as the year goes on is very motivating to many people, and a great way to put aside $1,000+ in your savings/emergency fund by the end of the year. So if you’ve struggled with saving before, here’s how toSave Money with the 52 Week Money Saving Challenge! Free printable included!
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While this challenge is designed to be started in January, if you’re coming across this later in the year, that’s okay. Just add up the amount from the weeks you missed, put that into savings, then go ahead with the challenge as normal. That’s why the challenge starts with the smallest amounts first!
Save Money with the 52 Week Money Saving Challenge
I wish I could say that I invented the 52 week money saving challenge, but I didn’t. I actually don’t know who created it, but I think it started around 2012/2013, or at least that’s when it became popular online. And unlike some money saving trends, the 52 week challenge has stayed strong across the years, with newcomers and old challengers doing it every year since its creation. That’s because the challenge works! It takes away the stress of figuring out how much to save and when to set it aside, and tells you exactly what to do and when.
But that doesn’t mean you have to stick strictly to the challenge’s rules. If you get paid every other week, it’s fine to combine the suggested savings for two weeks and deposit your savings twice a month instead of every week. You could even combine the savings for a whole month into one big monthly savings deposit. Whatever works for you and your budget. But if you know it’s likely you’ll spend the money on non-necessities if you have it on hand, it’d be best to put it into savings every week, just to keep it safe.
There are some variations on this challenge out there. Some use higher weekly amounts, allowing you to save more throughout the year. But I think a +$1 saving system is easier if you’re new to saving, or are on a tight budget. I’ve also seen some challenges arranged in the reverse order, with the highest savings at the start of the year. But my feeling with that is that at the start of the year, people are more likely to have tight budgets as a result of the holidays, so are more likely to give up on the challenge faster. Also, it’s less encouraging to put less away as the year goes on, because the amount you’ll see in your savings will go up less and less. But those are personal preferences, because really, there’s no wrong way to save!
52 Week Money Saving Challenge Tips
Here are my tips on how to best succeed with the 52 week money saving challenge:
First, I would put the money away as soon as you get paid. If you get paid on an irregular schedule or every 2 weeks, pick a day to be savings day, like every Friday. Since the savings amounts are always changing, you won’t be able to set up an automatic deposit for the challenge, you’ll have to transfer the money manually.
Second, I suggest putting the savings in an actual savings account or money market account. Those types of accounts have a limit on withdrawls (6 per month). If you put the money in a checking account you can take it out without any limits, but a savings/money market account’s limits will (hopefully) make you think twice before dipping into your savings. Savings/money market accounts also tend to have better interest rates than checking accounts, so your money will grow a bit more in them.
Lastly, I’d have a goal for this money. That way when the year is over, you won’t just transfer it into checking and use it on something non-essential. Putting it into your emergency fund is never a bad idea, or you could use it as a sinking fund for something you’ll need to buy the following year. Or just use the money to pay down debt (I have a printable worksheet for that, too!).
Download Your 52 Week Money Saving Challenge Free Printable Here
If you complete this challenge you’ll have a little over $1,300 set aside, which is a good sum of money! Good luck!
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Have you ever completed the 52 week money saving challenge before?
You might also be interested in: 25 Free Budgeting Printables
FAQs
Here are a few more ways to save $5,000 by the end of 2023:
- Save $96.16 every week.
- Save $192.31 every two weeks.
- Save $416.67 every month.
- Save $1,250 every quarter.
- Save $2,500 every six months.
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.
How to save $5000 in 3 months with 100 envelopes? ›
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.
Is the 52 week challenge worth it? ›
The 52-week savings plan
If you're new to the 52-week money challenge, the first month or so you might wonder if it will take 52 years to see progress because you start so small. But know that this savings plan is effective, and it can help you sock away more than a thousand dollars in a year — $1,378 to be exact.
How much is 1 dollar a day for a year? ›
If you saved $1 a day for a year, do you know how much money you'd have? Roughly $30,000. This is totally 100% true.
How much is $1 a week for a year? ›
All you do is start with $1 in Week One. Then every week after that you add $1 to the amount you're saving for the week. That's it! If you do this, you'll have a cool $1,378 extra in one year's time!
What is the 100 envelope savings 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. After you've filled up all the envelopes, you'll have a total savings of $5,050.
What is the 2 dollar a week savings challenge? ›
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.
What is the envelope budget trick? ›
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.
What is envelope stuffing to save money? ›
The cash envelope system, or cash stuffing, is an approach to budgeting designed to help you spend more intentionally. Envelopes used for cash stuffing contain all the money available for specific expenses each month. Cash stuffing could help you avoid credit card debt but requires a lot of physical cash on hand.
The concept is simple: Take a few envelopes, write a specific expense category on each one — like groceries, rent or student loans — and then put the money you plan to spend on those things into the envelopes. Traditionally, people have used the envelope system on a monthly basis, using actual cash and envelopes.
What is the $3 52-week money challenge? ›
The 52-week money challenge is a fun and effective way to stash money away to start or bolster your savings. The most common way to complete the challenge is to start by saving just $1 in week one and increasing what you save by $1 each week, saving $2 in week two and $3 in week three, all the way up to $52 in week 52.
How much money will you save with the 52-week challenge? ›
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.
How to save $5000 in 3 months challenge? ›
Each day for 100 days, you'll set aside a predetermined dollar amount in different envelopes. After just over 3 months, you could have more than $5,000 saved.
How to save $5000 in a year challenge? ›
Here are eight ways to save $5,000 in a year with small, manageable steps.
- “Chunk” Your Savings. ...
- Automate Your Savings. ...
- Save in a High-Yield Saving Account. ...
- Track Your Cash Flow. ...
- Boost Your Earnings. ...
- Declutter for Cash. ...
- Evaluate Your Subscriptions. ...
- Challenge Yourself.
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.
How much money will I save if I do the 52 week challenge? ›
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.
How much do I need to save a week to get $5000? ›
The first step to reaching any financial goal is to break it into bite-sized pieces. If you want to save $5,000 in one year, you'll need to save approximately $417 a month. That's about $97 a week.
