It’s so difficult to save money especially when you don’t have a strict system set up. That is why money saving challenges are the best for starting out as you get better with money. A money saving challenge in most cases will force you to be frugal. When I did my first challenge ultimately I had a better sense of what I was spending my money on. These amazing money saving challenges are a great start for anyone who wants to be more hands on with their money going forward.
Whatever it is you want to put money away for use the challenges below to get achieve your goals. There is no challenge that is too small or too big, it’s up to you to stay motivated. Every time you put money away and are close to completing the challenge you will the sense of accomplishment will push you to start another one.
Table of Contents
Why do a money-saving challenge?
That’s probably the question that’s lingering on your mind as you hesitate to even read further. Why even bother doing a savings challenge? The answer is that a savings challenge like I mentioned earlier forces you to be diligent with your money. It also forces you to pay yourself back before you spend your money on bills or anything else you want to buy.
When you have a clear idea of what you are saving for, you can spend money without losing sleep. So whether you are saving for a new car or for your children’s education a savings challenge is one of the best ways to achieve your goals as you actively track your money.
When to Start a Savings Challenge?
The best time to start a savings challenge is now! However starting a challenge mid month or mid week can be tricky especially if you already set a budget for yourself. For most challenges the best time to start is in the beginning of the month or year as you’ll see. This will give you time to prepare and also time to go over your finances and decide on the most practical challenge for your goals.
For a savings challenge to work you should save money in a separate account than the one you typically spend money from. This will not only make it easier to track but it will make it harder to spend this money knowingly or unknowingly. If you prefer to save money in cash then you can use an envelope or safe and just make sure no one else knows the password. Use a journal to track how much you save and the days that you miss.
Amazing Money Saving Challenges:
1. No Spend Money Challenge
The no spend challenge is a great way to start saving money. That’s because you simply have to go on a spending freeze. This doesn’t mean that you stop paying for essentials as you can see in this post on how to budget for your home. It means that you stop spending money on things that you don’t need.
This includes things like take out, clothes, gadgets and such. Anything that you don’t need to spend money on should be eliminated during this challenge. Savings could easily add up tp $1,000 a month depending on what you spend your money on.
To start print out or go over your credit card statement or account. Go over the past three months and identify things that you absolutely did not need to spend money on. From here set a no spend challenge for yourself that could be a month long. At the end of the month ensure to check how much you have left and put this money in your savings account.
2. Save $10,000 a Year Money Challenge
This is a hefty goal but remember you can do this especially if you start in the beginning of the year. I have linked the challenge here which includes a printable copy. This is not an easy challenge and I wont try to make it sound easy. However if you set a goal to save ten thousand dollars this year and follow through guess what; at the end of the year your net worth will be $10,000 more!
That means that you will have paid yourself back and you can use this money for a house down payment, saving for emergencies, a new baby and so much more. To achieve this you have to be frugal and intentional with your money. Don’t spend money you haven’t earned for example. This means that you only spend what you have and not a credit card.
3. Save $500 in 30 Days Challenge
This is great challenge to get into the habit of saving more actively. If you want to see how to save $500 in 30 days you can start here. Every day you will set money aside in a jar or in your savings account towards the $500. You will track how much you save and any day you fall short you make up for it another day.
This may be a little tedious but it will force you to stop spending money unnecessarily. Before you get Uber eats you’ll pause and see if you can put that money away towards the $500 savings challenge and find something in the house to eat.
4. Emergency Fund Savings Challenge
This challenge is to get you to ensure that you have money set aside for emergencies. Everyone should have an emergency fund because anything could happen that you need money for. The recommended amount to have in an emergency fund is $1,000. I would recommend using the $500 savings challenge to save $1,000 in 60 days.
5. Bad Habit Money Savings Challenge
This challenge is for ‘punishing’ yourself anytime you don’t meet a goal. If you set a resolution this year to exercise 3 days a week and you don’t then at the end of the week you put money in the fund for failed goals. The idea is to motivate yourself to do what you set out to do and also to save if you don’t. If at the end of the year for example you have more money than you thought you would because you missed more workouts than you thought, then at least you have something to show for it.
Try any of these money saving challenges to save money this year and keep repeating them until you achieve your financial goals. If you don’t start now you never will.
