Savings Challenges to Help You Save
Trying to find the best ways to save money can be a hassle, but setting up financial challenges can help you reach your savings goals faster. Challenges can enable you to form healthy saving habits and motivate you to save more and more. Having these plans in place make it more likely that you’ll achieve larger financial goals. You can use financial challenges to help you pay down debt, grow your emergency fund or put money aside to buy a home. There are so many different financial challenges to choose from, so find the one that best suits you and your budget. Here are just few examples of challenges that may help you optimize your savings:
52-Week Money Challenge
This saving strategy is probably one of the most well-known and is usually the easiest one to follow. To get started, you can make a chart with the numbers 1-52 representing the number of weeks in a year. Beside each number, you will write your savings goal for that week. Your savings goal should correspond with the number of the week in a calendar year. For example, week one you will save $1, week 5 you will save $5 and so on. If you begin at the start of the New Year and consistently save the amount that matches your goal each week, at the end of the year you’ll have saved $1,378.
One Dollar-a-Day
This savings challenge is an easy one too, but doesn’t end up yielding you as much as other savings options. In this challenge all you have to do is save a dollar a day for a year. At the end of the year you will have saved $365. It isn’t great for trying to reach larger financial goals, but the dollar-a-day challenge can be a great way to teach your kids how to save or just set aside a little extra money for small splurges.
The $5 Challenge
Not many people choose to carry cash around nowadays, but if you’re one of the few people that do, then this savings challenge may be a good fit for you. This savings hack involves putting aside every $5 bill you receive into a secret stash. You will save all of your $5 bills for an entire year without counting or spending any of it until the challenge is complete. How often you use cash will determine how much you are able to save by the end of the year. You can also use financial gifts towards this challenge, such as if you receive birthday money, Christmas money, or even extra cash from doing work for someone. This challenge takes a little more conscious thinking, but can ultimately save you hundreds and even thousands in one year.
Change the Way You Save
Mindfully trying to save seems like a full time task, but what if there was a way you could save without even thinking about it? Luckily, there is a savings challenge that involves saving your change. Every time you make a purchase, you will round up to the next dollar and put that into a savings jar or a savings account. We offer our Change the Way You Save feature that will automatically do the rounding for you and place the extra change into your savings account. If you need an easier way to save without having to think about it, this challenge may be for you.
Automatic Savings
Setting up automatic transfers from your checking to your savings account is another great way to save without having to think about it. Sometimes life gets busy and can leave you forgetting to set back money for savings. Consider setting up automatic transfers between your checking and savings account in order to avoid forgetting to move the money over yourself. You can set up a designated amount to come out of your checking account each week or month. Automating your savings can help you to prioritize your savings contributions, reducing the temptation to spend those funds without planning ahead.
At Robins Financial Credit Union, our mission is to enhance the financial well-being of our members and community. We honor this commitment by providing educational content to help you make the most of your finances. Read our other blog articles to help you gain the financial knowledge you need to succeed.