In 2014, I decided to try out a savings challenge I had seen on Pinterest. It was the 52 week money challenge, and it seemed simple and easy enough.
All you had to do was deposit a certain amount of money into your savings account each week. On the first week of the year, you put in $1. On the second week, you put in $2 and so on and so forth. While I was able to complete it, I actually found it to be really difficult! At the end of the year, aka the holiday season when spending is at a high, I was depositing $49, $50, $51, and $52 each week. It might seem silly, but it actually stressed me out! Because I was buying Christmas presents, sending out holiday cookies, and doing this challenge, I felt like I was running low on cash pretty often. I knew that if I did it again in 2015, I had to budget my money better or find a different method.
I decided that the best way to do this challenge is to do it in reverse. So on the first week of the year, I put in $52 into my savings account. That way on the 52nd week of the year, I only had to worry about putting in $1. Even though the year isn't over yet, I've already completed the challenge because I didn't have to put in $202 into my account during the month of December.
I wanted to share my top reasons for doing this challenge with you and how to make it a little bit easier for you.
1. Do the challenge in reverse! Like I said, I found it much easier to start the year adding $52 and ending the year with just $1. It's much easier and less stressful during the holiday season.
2. You'll see a bigger addition to your savings account. I found that doing it backwards also motivated me more. And I think that's because I was seeing a bigger addition of money in my savings account much quicker. Immediate results!
3. Keep track of the dollar amount. I wrote myself a reminder in my planner of how much money I needed to put away each week. This meant that I saw it pretty much every day. I never forgot about it and it was the first thing I did on Friday mornings.
4. Add it directly to your bank account and not to a jar. Maybe the jar method works for you, but I know that adding directly to my savings account at my bank meant that I wouldn't touch the money I put there. Also, I rarely carry cash so making the transfer online is much easier.
5. You will save $1,378 in one year! This is by far the biggest pro about this challenge. In addition to the money I put into my savings at the end of each month, I saved nearly $1,400 more! You can put this money towards something you need or want or keep it there. It's all up to you! You can see what I did with some of my money on Wednesday...
For 2016, I'm debating on whether or not I should do it in reverse again or do the reverse double. That would mean putting in $104 the first week, $102 the second week, etc., and saving double the amount that I did this year.
Let me know if you give this a try or have done it in the past. I'd love to hear about your experience!
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