Do you want to start building up your savings account in the New Year? Many of us overspend at Christmas, even though we know we shouldn’t and deplete our savings funds. It could be that you want to start getting a handle on your finances and a New Year is the perfect opportunity to put resolutions into place. Whatever the reason you want to start saving, we’ve got some tremendous 52-week savings challenge ideas for you, including the 1p challenge. Let’s have a look and start saving!
The 1p Challenge
How does saving a penny a day sound? You may have heard of this one before. You start with 1p on January 1st, then save 2p the next day. Whatever day of the year is, you save that amount of pennies. So February 6th is the year’s 37th day, and for that day you’d put 37p aside. Do you follow the idea?
The 52-week savings challenge will actually help you save over £650! Obviously, as you approach the 100-day mark it’s £1+ a day and when we edge closer to next winter you’re going to be looking or £3+ a day. However, it’s pretty incredible how this 1p challenge can actually add up. It’s a great way to save for next Christmas or put some money aside for a holiday.
Cut Back & Save
Another great idea is to cut back on the money you spend and start directing that cash towards your savings account. How much do you spend during your commute and working day? If you buy a coffee at the train station and purchase a meal deal for your lunch, you’re easily spending over £5 on just that. How about taking your own coffee (ask for a thermal coffee cup for Christmas!) and making your own lunch rather than buying it? That £5 a day, over the 5-day work week adds up to £25. Over 52 weeks, that’s £1300! What could you do with an extra £100 in your savings account?!
Set Your Own 52-Week Savings Challenge
Do you know how much you would like to have in your savings account at the end of the year? Different people will have varying amounts, but the maths of saving is still the same. Whatever your ideal savings account figure is, you simply need to divide it by 52. Manageable chunks are much easier to handle than lump sums. So if you want £2000 in your account, that’s £38.46 a week. If you can set up automatic bank transfers to shift that amount from your current account to a savings account with a decent interest rate every Monday, you’ll quickly build up that pot of cash. You’ll get some decent interest on top too. £5000 would be £96.15 a week which might be out of reach of most people. However £1000 a year being £19.23 a week is a far more reachable target.
A Pound Per Date
I’ve got another idea that is similar to the 1p challenge, the penny per day of the year. For every month, put aside a pound for every date. So for the 3rd of the money, shift £3 into your savings account. For the 10th, put a tenner in your savings. This could be above and beyond what people can afford, but for those who can, it works out to £465 saved per 30-day month.
You need to make it realistic for your financial circumstances though. Maybe some of these figures are well out of reach, food on the table is far more important. However, if you can find 50p a day, this works out to £15 a month. That’s £180 a year. Savings you wouldn’t have otherwise built up.
Final Thoughts
Whether it’s the 1p challenge or something more personal to you, think about what your savings goals are going to be for the year ahead and figure out the best way to work towards that goal.
