Easy Money Saving Challenges to Try

simple money saving challenges with british coins and pennies

With the New Year comes New Year’s resolutions. Along with hitting the gym and taking up a new hobby, saving money will be on most of our lists. However, while we all start out with the best intentions, putting 20% of our pay into savings is easier said than done. This year, why not try a new way to save with these easy money-saving challenges? Whether you’re saving for a house or collecting funds for your next holiday, find a hassle-free way to put a little money aside and cash in at the end of the year without feeling like you’re losing out. 

Put aside a little every day to save £1,456 with ease

Rather than putting a big chunk of your pay straight into your savings account and leaving your bank balance looking a little forlorn on day one of the month, why not break it up and put away a little every day? 

Start by putting £1 into your savings on Monday, then £2 on Tuesday and so on until £7 on Sunday. Every Monday the challenge resets so you start back at £1 again. Most of us will barely notice £7 leaving our account, let alone just £1, meaning you don’t feel like you’re losing out on your money while still adding to your savings. This will save you £28 a week, £112 a month and a whopping £1,456 a year if you stick with it. 

weekly saving challenge infographic

Save £1,040 with the £20 challenge

The £20 challenge is an easy way to save over £1,000 over the year. It’s easy – on a Friday, put £20 into your savings account. After all, most of us are guilty of spending around £20 on a Friday treat, whether it be on a cheeky takeaway or a few post-work pints. Instead, put it into savings so you can party hard at the end of the year, £1,040 better off! Alternatively, keep your Friday treat and put the £20 away on a Monday to start the week off right. 

52 week saving challenge

One of the more popular money-saving challenges, the premise of the £1 a week challenge is that you put aside £1 for the first week of the year, £2 for week two and so on until £52 for the last week of the year. This will save you £1,378 by the end of the year, but be warned, it’ll get harder as it goes on. Alternatively, do it in reverse and start by putting £52 into your savings in the first week of January when you’re less likely to be spending much compared to the expensive Christmas months. 

1p saving challenge 

If the 52 week saving challenge sounds too steep for you, Skint Dad recommends the simpler 1p saving challenge. Instead of putting aside £1 in the first week, you save 1p on the 1st January, 2p on the 2nd and so on right up to £3.65 on the 31st December. You won’t save quite as much with a grand total of £667.95 at the end of the year, but this version means you’re more likely to succeed even on a tight budget as you’ll be putting away pennies you won’t miss rather than precious pounds you’ll definitely need come Christmas. Head over to Skint Dad’s blog to download some free printables to keep yourself on track. 

1p saving challenge infographic

Pic: Skint Dad

Save £780 with the 12 month saving challenge

For this one, use the number of the month as your starting point and multiply it by 10. For example, for January, you’d put aside £10, £20 in February right up to £120 in December. This is another one which gets harder as the year goes on but at the end you’ll be left with just under £800 – not bad!  

The 1% Savings Challenge

The challenge recommended by money making and money saving blogger Emma Drew, the 1% savings challenge is easy and manageable. The idea is to set yourself a goal, then divide it by 100 and add to it just 1% at a time. For example, if you want to save £1,000, you’d only need to put aside £10 100 times. By breaking up your goal into manageable chunks, reaching your saving goals is far more achievable. This simple trick helped Emma become debt free, so it’s well worth a go! Head over to Emma’s blog for free print outs to keep you on track. 

1% money saving challenge infographic

Round up your purchases

This isn’t so much of a challenge as it’s an incredibly easy way to put money into savings without any effort. Many of us are using app-based banks such as Monzo, Starling and Revolut these days. These fantastic apps give you the option to skim money into your savings pot, safe or savings account from your everyday purchases. 

So, every time you pick up that £2.70 takeaway coffee, the app will round up your purchase to £3 and put the extra 30p into your savings. It’s easy, affordable, and you won’t even notice the difference as your savings slowly stack up. If you’re not already using one of these app-based banks, take a look at our blog article weighing up the pros and cons of each bank to find out which one will suit you best. 

monzo round ups saving pot

Pic: Monzo.com

Start saving when you post on Facebook

You may want to cut down on your Facebook usage, but since you’re on there anyway you may as well find a way to turn it to your advantage and add a little extra to your savings. With the nifty Oval Money app, you can set up savings triggers which will automatically transfer money to your savings every time you post on Facebook. It also helps you manage your personal finances generally so you can take control of your money to spend and save it wisely from your phone. 

Try the £5 saving challenge to save £6,890 in one year

If you’re really serious about bulking up your savings, try the Metro’s fiver saving challenge. The concept is simple: for the first week of the year, put away £5. Then for each week increase the amount you put aside by £5, so week two would be £10, week three £15 and so on. This goes right up to week 52 where you’ll put aside £260 to save a whopping £6,890 in total. 

This is a great, simple way to save, but only if you can afford it! We’ll wager that by the end of the year it might get harder to put so much aside. If you’d prefer you can always reverse the challenge and start by putting away £260 in the first week of January, slowly decreasing to just £5 in week 52 which is usually when we’re all the most skint. What do you reckon, are you determined enough to take it on and save big? 

 

So which of these challenges are you excited to try? Let us know how you get on, and keep checking back to see what new money-saving tips and tricks we have to help you reach your saving goals. 

 

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