Are you looking for some new and creative ways to save money? Are you someone who likes to play games and complete challenges? Commit to one of these challenges to change the way you save money.
17 Challenges To Make Saving Fun
Money-saving challenges are a fun and effective way to beef up your savings account. It’s a challenge where you set a goal to save a certain amount of money over a specified period. You can participate in a money-saving challenge alone or with a group of friends.
These 17 challenges make saving fun and will help you reach your financial goals!
1. The 52-Week Money Challenge
With the 52-week money challenge, you save $1 the first week and keep adding a dollar each week. The entire amount at the end of the year will be $1,378.
You can switch this up by increasing your savings if your income accommodates such changes.
2. 100 Envelope Challenge
For the 100 envelope challenge, you save an equivalent amount of money in a labeled envelope for 100 days.
It means the highest savings is $100, and the lowest is $1. If the envelope is marked 50, you put in $50; if 2, you put in $2.
3. $5 Savings Challenge
If you are looking for a money challenge that will save you a significant amount without strain on your purse, try the $5 daily challenge.
For three months, a daily savings of $5 will add up to $450. Try keeping up with it for a year, and you will have $1,825 in savings.
Another version of this challenge is to save every $5 bill you get. The amount you end up with will vary by person, but you should be able to save a few hundred dollars.
4. The Spare Change Challenge
Do you have spare change lying around? Or do you get change from your grocery purchases? You can save it. Get a piggy bank for coins, a money envelope, or a money box for bills, and start saving.
Depending on your purchases, your spare change can add up to a significant amount quickly.
5. 26-Week Savings Challenge
The 26-week challenge, or a biweekly savings plan, has you save money every other week. The catch with this challenge is you must increase the amount you save.
Save $4 for the first two weeks and add $4 for the next two weeks. At the end of the year, you’ll have $1,404.
6. 365-Day Nickel Challenge
You do this savings challenge for 365 days. On the first day, you save a single nickel – 5 cents, and the goal is to keep adding a nickel daily. Counting the nickels saves $18.40 on the last day.
At the end of the year, you have $3,339.75. How amazing is that?
7. Weather Wednesday Savings Challenge
The weather savings challenge is so fun and unpredictable. Every Wednesday is a day to save, and the amount you save depends on the weather!
Check the local weather update on your mobile device or the news and add the exact amount to your savings account.
8. $1 Savings Challenge
Every time you get a $1 bill, keep it. To get the most out of this savings challenge, you need to prioritize using cash. If you spend primarily using credit cards, you won’t have much savings.
9. No Spend Challenge
If you are an impulsive spender, try no-spend challenge, although it might be difficult on your first try. It works by picking a spending category and not spending money for a month. This could mean no eating out or no buying clothes. You can change the category every month or stick with the same one.
10. The Penny Challenge
The penny challenge is a fun and easy way to build up extra money, especially when you have no savings allowance. Start the first day with a penny and add one daily.
After 365 days, you would have saved $667.95!
11. The Round-up Challenge
This challenge is exciting.
When you make any purchase that isn’t a round figure online or in-store, round it up and save the extra. For example, if you buy a pair of slippers at Walmart for $9.45, round it up to $10 and save the $0.55.
The trick to making this one work is saving the round-up. If you pay in cash, you can save the change. But if you pay using a credit or debit card, you must manually transfer the $0.55 from your checking account to a savings account.
12. 1% Salary Saving Challenge
As the name implies, you set aside 1% of your annual salary to save. For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, 1% of that will be $600, which means you will save $50 each month.
As usual, you can improvise and make it 10% instead. Just determine how much you can save without negatively impacting your budget.
13. Coffee Break Challenge
Are you addicted to Starbucks? Try saving money instead of buying coffee. Whenever you crave Starbucks or make coffee at home, put some money into savings.
Your savings can easily add up to $1,000 yearly, depending on how much you love coffee.
14. 30-Day Minimalist Challenge
For the minimalist challenge, get rid of a single item you do not need daily. You can sell these items on Etsy, eBay, or Craigslist and save the money you earn.
Alternatively, you can donate the items to a local charity in town. If you go this route, save the donation receipt, as you can write this off on your taxes, saving you money.
15. The $20 Savings Challenge
This savings challenge can be 52 weeks, a month, or half a year, depending on your savings goals.
If you set aside $20 weekly, you will have $1,040 in one year. If your budget doesn’t allow you to save $20 a week, you can save every two weeks or once a month.
16. The $33.33 Challenge
If you can spare as much as $33.33 daily, try saving it for 30 days. Keeping $33.33 per day for 30 days will get you $999.90! If this is too much for you to put in daily, how about adjusting it to suit your income?
For example, $33.33 every three days will be $333 monthly. If you keep this up for the whole year, you will have $3,996 in 12 months!
17. Monthly Savings Challenge
This challenge has you pick an amount to save each month. It works best for people who have a variable budget. For example, during a slow month, your goal could be to save $25; during a good month, you choose to save $200. And, because it is entirely customizable, anyone can use it.
This post originally appeared on Wealth of Geeks.
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