Whether you're saving up for your dream vacation or your dream house, or trying to pay off those credit cards, saving up that hard-earned cash can be, well, hard.
However, the internet has saved the day. Because there are so many fun ways that you can make a game out of saving money. Making saving fun makes a huge difference. I have found more success using these money-saving challenges than anything else.
With the help of a few bloggers and our favorite tool, Pinterest, we put together a list of money-saving challenges you should try out today.
It's a great way to start working toward your money goals and save what you need for your next trip.
15 Saving Challenges to Try Now
Fun Saving Challenges
There are so many ways to trick yourself into saving more cash. Sometimes it is as simple as setting a goal and focusing on it (this is my fave book that has helped with the focusing part).
I have found that challenges have helped me create a consistent saving habit.
For the rest of us, if you need a bit more of a push, check out some of these fun money-saving challenges.
And don't be surprised if it turns into a hard-to-break savings habit.
Money Saving Bingo
Want a way to save $300 in less than a month?
Get your daubers out. We are going to play bingo. And make saving fun.
Here's how it works: each day, pick an amount to daub or cross out on your card. Put that amount in a jar or transfer it to your savings account.
Once your card is blacked out and all cells are daubed (crossed out), you should have saved $300.
A monthly savings challenge is a great way to save cash quickly. You can also double the amounts and end up with $600 in less than a month. It's a great way to hit your savings goals.
No Spend Challenge
How long do you think you can go without spending any money?
This is actually a fun challenge to try with friends. Challenge each other and see who can go the longest.
The rules are completely up to you. However, the only items exempt are necessities such as rent and utilities. The goal is to cut unnecessary spending for a set period of time.
If you are going at it alone, start with a week. Then move on to two weeks. And so forth.
Not only will you save a nice amount of money, but chances are you will also discover there are things that you don't really need to spend money on in the first place to have an enjoyable life. This is also a good trick to pay off that annoying credit card.
Need ideas on how to create a budget. Check out our guide on how to live on a budget.
The trick to succeeding in this challenge is to plan ahead. And don't be surprised if after you finish the challenge you find yourself with a new set of spending habits.
No Spend Challenge: Food and Drink
This is a variation on the no-spend challenge, except that it involves no spending on eating out specifically. Now, if you're like me and like to eat out, I would recommend doing this for a set period to start. Sticking to a time period gives you something to look forward to.
This is exactly how we saved up for some of our first vacations.
The rules are simple. If you like to buy from Starbucks, go out for drinks with friends, or eat out every so often. Cut this out for a month.
Then every time you would go out, take that amount and put it in a savings account. Or in a fun little bank like this one.
For example, I used to buy lunch every day for work. I would average about $10 a day.
So I decided to do a no-spend and pack my lunch instead of buying it. Each week, I would put $50 into my “vacation fund.”
It was amazing how quickly that money added up. And now I have it set up as a recurring transfer from my checking to my savings. At this point, it is set-and-forget.
Every time we want to go on a trip, we log in to that account. It's so nice to just have it there without thinking about.
Once you start saving, you will be addicted.
Read more about How to Stop Spending Money. And use these tips to save even more.
Weather Savings Challenge
The weather challenge is something new I came across and felt it would be fun to share. The idea is to pick a day of the week, and once a week you will save the equivalent of that day's high or low.
So, for example, let's say you pick Wednesday. Every Wednesday you will check the recorded high or low for the day and add that amount into your savings.
This could be fun, especially if you live in a place with variable temperatures, like the Northeast United States.
In the winter months, the deposits will be lower, but in the summer they will be significantly higher.
365 Day Money Challenges
The Penny Challenge
Who says you have to have a ton of extra cash to save?
This challenge is such an easy way to save over $600 in one year. Starting on Day 1, you save 1 penny. Day 2 is 2 pennies. And so on. Pop them in one of these jars to keep track.
Isn't it amazing how those pennies can quickly add up?
Spare Change Challenge
The spare change challenge is a relatively passive way to save cash for a rainy day or to put towards a vacation.
It is simple. Just drop any loose change into a jar (I love these ones) and keep adding it up.
If you don't really use cash, then check with your financial institution. Bank of America, for example, has a program called “Keep The Change” where you can round up your purchases, and the change is automatically transferred to your savings account. It almost feels like free money.
Vices Savings Challenge
This is similar to the no spend challenge. The goal here is to give up a vice. You decide what that is. So it could be wine, coffee, ice cream.
Whatever it is, give up that vice for a month or two or three, and then put the money that you would have otherwise spent on that vice in a savings account or a jar. It makes for a great savings plan in so many ways.
What is the $5 Challenge?
The $5 challenge is a fave, and we do it quite often. It is simple. Every time you find yourself with a five-dollar bill, don't spend it; put it in a jar, envelope, or box. It is entirely up to you.
You can do this for whatever time frame you like.
We personally do this between trips and will use whatever we have in our pot for something fun. We have easily saved up hundreds doing this. And we hardly miss those $5 bills.
How Can I Save $500 in 30 days?
I love a good monthly money savings challenge. And saving $500 in 30 days is a lot simpler than you think.
Here are two ways that you can give it a go.
The first way starts with $1 on the first of the month and increases by $1 every day. Alternatively, you can do the reverse: start with $30 and go down $1 each day.
Here is another idea that will get you to $500 a month. It is the same concept as above, where you save a set amount of money every day. But the amounts vary by day and are not consecutive. Pick the one that best works for you.
The 52 Week Savings Challenge
One of the most popular money savings challenges is the 52-week challenge.
These are brilliant and a great way to start a goal for the year.
How much money do you save in the 52-week challenge?
You can save anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars by doing the 52-week challenge. It is a great way to save a nice chunk of change easily.
There are several ways to do this challenge; however, here are a few options to consider.
The most common way to do it is to start by saving $1 a week and bump it up by $1 each week until the end of the year.
Here is an example. By the end of the year, you will have saved up $1378.
If you are looking for something to start at any time of year, or want to try the challenge in a different way, this version is brilliant.
It works almost like a bingo card. The challenge itself lasts a year; however, each week you can choose how much to set aside. Once you have crossed off all the boxes, bingo. You should now have $1,469 in the bank or in a cute piggy bank like this one.
If you prefer to know exactly how much you should be setting aside and when, then this is a sample of a 52-week money challenge that most people start at the beginning of the year.
$5000 a year challenge
Here is an example of a $5000 challenge.
And if you are looking to save even more, this one is for $10,000. How awesome would it be (and feel) to have $10,000 in the bank after a year?
The Reverse 52 Week Savings Challenge
This is my favorite out of all the 52-week savings challenges.
The reason is that you start off putting a larger amount of money in at the beginning of the challenge (or when you're most motivated), and by the end the amounts are so small that you just have to keep on going. BTW, this is a great book if you want to keep that motivation going.
The traditional 52-week challenge starts at $1; the reverse starts at $52, and you deduct $1 each week, with the last week at $1. This 52-week money-saving challenge is perfect to keep you motivated.
What is the 100 envelope challenge?
The 100-envelope challenge is a fun way to save over $ 5,000 in a year. It is really easy to do. Start with 100 envelopes. (Amazon has a ton of cute ones like these.) Label each envelope $1 through $100. Every week, you will randomly pick two envelopes and fill them with the dollar amount written on the outside of each envelope.
By the end of the year, you should have 100 envelopes with $5050.
Saving Challenges to Jump Start Your Money Saving Goals
Still looking for some more options to save money? Here are a few additional ideas for money-saving challenges.
26 Week Bi-Weekly Challenge
If 52 weeks seems like a bit of a stretch for you, then why not try a 26-week challenge?
This one will have you saving $5000 in just 6 months.
31 Day Money Saving Challenge
Similar to the 30-day challenge, the 31-day challenge involves you saving a certain amount of money every day for a month.
Here is an example of one that will help you save $500 in a month.
The $1000 Challenge
If your goal is more specific, AKA you want to save $1000, then the $1000 challenge is great for you. This specific one is a year-long challenge; however, it is easy enough to complete in 12 weeks rather than a year. This is also a great way to start building that emergency fund.
The hardest part about saving up for something is starting. The second hardest part is not succumbing to the urge to spend what you have saved (this is a great idea if you just can't resist) or just stop.
While saving money isn't always easy, there are fun and easy ways to do it. So save that money. Plan that trip. Let's do this.
Give one of these a try and let us know how they worked out for you.
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