Have ya heard about about this, folks? This "52 Week Money Challenge" thing sweeping the nation? Let me tell you how you too can save $1,378 in a year!
Anyone else love old timey State Fair style sales pitches?
I read about this thing called the "Money Challenge" in late 2013 and decided to give it a go for 2014, in addition to my other financial responsibilities like an IRA, stocks, and general savings. Like with any other New Year's resolution, I figured I'd stop doing it halfway through the year, especially as the challenge started to get harder. Much to my surprise, I didn't fall short, and I did manage to sock away an unnoticeable $1,378 this year. It's surprisingly easy (assuming your financial life is in order), so let me explain.
The first week of the year you save $1 and the last week of the year you save $52. Then everything in between you save that amount. For example week 23 is $23, week 34 is $34, etc. As the year progresses you save more and more, but it does take awhile to notice a significant amount. This chart explains it a bit better:
Anyone else love old timey State Fair style sales pitches?
I read about this thing called the "Money Challenge" in late 2013 and decided to give it a go for 2014, in addition to my other financial responsibilities like an IRA, stocks, and general savings. Like with any other New Year's resolution, I figured I'd stop doing it halfway through the year, especially as the challenge started to get harder. Much to my surprise, I didn't fall short, and I did manage to sock away an unnoticeable $1,378 this year. It's surprisingly easy (assuming your financial life is in order), so let me explain.
The first week of the year you save $1 and the last week of the year you save $52. Then everything in between you save that amount. For example week 23 is $23, week 34 is $34, etc. As the year progresses you save more and more, but it does take awhile to notice a significant amount. This chart explains it a bit better:
As you can imagine the beginning of the year is quite easy, while the end of the year can get a bit challenging as you near the holidays. If you're an instant gratification person like me, you might want to see more action upfront. If I were to do this again, I would change it up to one of the following ways:
Option 1: Flip it.
Do a declining contribution and save $52 Week 1 and then $1 by Week 52.
Pro: See savings right away
Pro: More likely to add more to it when you can and go above the $1,378
Con: Harder to save so much directly after the holidays
Option 2: Average it.
$1,378 divided by 12 (months) is roughly $115. Just put a whopping $115 away each month. Or $53 each paycheck if you're paid twice a month. Or $27 per week to keep the nature of the challenge alive.
Pro: You don't have to think about all that math.
Pro: Because I'm rounding up, you'll save a little more than $1,378
Con: It's a large sum each time, and you may think of it as a burden instead of a challenge.
Option 3: Up the ante.
If you've already completed the 52 week challenge for $1,378 - Double it. Make it $2,756 per year. Save $230 per month, or $106 per pay period, or $53 per week.
Pro: More bang for your buck.
Con: If the amount is too big, you're more likely to dip into your savings if you've gone over budget.
When you sit down to think about your finances and what you spend on a latte at Starbucks (~$4.50) or that $28 takeout from Seamless on a Tuesday night, putting away this little bit amount of money each week is fairly simple (at least up front in the year). Have a trip coming up? Want to buy a fun new toy for yourself? Or just compete with yourself and see if you can do yourself one better year after year? Then I suggest this challenge. It kind of covers all of the the bases from psyching yourself out, being financially smart, and being somewhat innocuous to the point you don't even realize you're doing it.
This challenge can really be started at anytime. It doesn't need to be a New Year's resolution or a first week of January thing.
Best of luck. Let me know how you'll spend your $1,378 you saved in the next 12 months ;)