Today’s post I will be sharing 7 Money Saving Challenges you can try this year.
If saving money is part of your 2021 goals but you don’t know where to get started, then this post is for you. Here are doable money saving challenges that will help you save more.
52 Week Money Saving Challenge
One of the most popular money saving challenges that pops up every single new year, is the 52 Week Money Challenge.
The 52-Week Money Challenge I believe started with Life as You Live It. Kuripot Pinay did the Filipino version and it became really popular in social media and made it even in the national television.
It is a way of compounding your money in a different interval so it will still be simple and cost effective to you. Below is the excerpt from Ms. Rhea of The Kuripot Pinay on how the challenge is done:
You will need the following:
A goal. This will keep you motivated to save and save. Simply imagine getting your most coveted gadget by the end of the year.
A Piggy Bank. You can use a plastic container, a bottle, a jar of just about anything. This will be called a grownup piggy bank.
Template. The challenge has an existing template that we can print out and tape in our piggy bank. However, since the amount is in dollars, I took the liberty to edit the dollar part and translate it into Philippine Peso. Plus, I altered the dollar equivalent to Php50.
For doing the increments pof Php 50, you are bound to save a total of Php 68,900.
If you need a template for a more affordable increments, I highly recommend checking out this blog post of her.
The 52 Week Money challenge as a good way to start saving money. You’ll learn to commit to a goal, to focus on the value of saving and to know that compound interest actually works.
I also made a post on the different ways you can use the 52 Week Money Challenge. You can literally use the challenge to save up for your emergency fund, wedding fund, small business fund, etc.
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Tips to successfully accomplish the 52 Week Money Challenge
Define the end result
What will happen to the money that you will save for the whole duration of the 52 Week Money Challenge?! The answer will serve as your main motivator in the journey of the challenge. Write down the end result put it a place where you can always see it so that you will become closer to your goal.
Find an accountability partner
You can ask one of your sibling or a best friend and even your partner if he or she is open to the idea of 52 Week Money Challenge. As they say two is better than one. You can remind each other once a week is coming up. What you can also do is to keep your money to your accountability partner and vice versa so that you won’t be distracted to spend.
Never miss a week
Focus on your goal and try your hardest not to miss a week in the 52 Week Money Challenge as that can easily divert the whole saving system. Remember that once you miss a week then you need to save twice the amount for the following week, thus a domino effect on your budget for the week and the month ahead.
Find a safe place to keep your savings
You can keep the money you save through the 52 Week Money Challenge on a savings account, alkansiya (just keep it in a safe place) or better yet any high-yield savings account you know.
Know how to adjust your budget for your savings system
Since you are now doing the 52 Week Money Challenge you need to adjust your budget according to how the weekly system goes. Remember to stay away from big expenses once the amount you need to save for the challenge is high. At the end of the day, you can enjoy better savings with the little sacrifice you will do.
No Spend Money Saving Challenge
I first learned of the No Spend Money Challenge. from Michelle of MakingSenseofCents, one of the best financial bloggers I follow. You can check our her post here.
A no spend month is where you won’t spend any money on a specific category of your budget for a specific period.
For example, setting a goal of not spending money on take outs for the whole month of February. Another example is to not spend on new clothes or shoes for the whole year. This means you are not allowed to buy any new clothes or shoes until December.
Remember that bills and other necessities do not count in the no spend money challenge.
How to do the No Spend Money Challenge:
Decide on what you will let go
Think about on what you want to cut out. Is it no food delivery? Not buying new clothes? Not buying new shoes? No Shopee and/or Lazada? Also make sure that you have a definite time frame. An extra tip is for you to go over your budget last year and see where most of your money really goes.
Define your why
What’s your motivation for saving money? Are you currently overspending on areas of your life that are not that important? Where will you spend all the money you saved? Is it for your travel fund? A sinking fund? Or any of these different saving funds you should have?
Settle on your timeframe
Until when will you spend no money? Are you doing the no spend challenge on a week? A month? Or for the full year? Make sure to check on your schedule for a whole year and see whether there are days and/or special occasion which you can’t help but spend like birthdays in the family.
Set your no spend money challenge rule
Personalize the no spend money challenge based on your lifestyle. Create a list of things you will not be spending money for.
Invisible Money Saving Challenge
This money saving challenge is something I’ve done years ago. If you want an easy money saving challenge wherein you can save a reasonable amount then this money saving challenge is for you!
In the Invisible Money Saving Challenge you’ll just select a money increment you’ll treat as an invisible money. As you go on your day, save that cash every time you see it on your wallet or receive it.
A lot of examples on this Invisible Money Saving Challenge are on the Php 50 increments. However, because I depend mostly on Php 50 for my commute, I haven’t tried this. I only succeeded in doing the Php 20 invisible money challenge which enable me to save roughly Php 3000++ in three months.
Spavings
Spavings is the perceived savings you get when you buy something on sale. The term is actually a play on words Spend and Save.
I first heard about the term in Budgets are Sexy blog but was originated really by The Lady in the Black.
So what is it really?
Remember those moments when you buy something on sale. Where did you put the extra money you saved?
If you just added it to your spending money you actually did not save at all.
With spavings, you are encouraged to deliberately put that money saved as part of your savings.
A lot of times you encounter people who say they saved this amount of money for a 20% off deal, when in reality what they did was only to spend money because savings only accounts to money we actually SAVED.
I was set to do this challenge last year and was really good in doing it for the first two months of 2020.
My January 2020 Spavings amounted to Php 1360. I was at my usual Friday stroll after work in National Bookstores only to find myself in a number of books for 80% off! I got four books that are on my reading wishlists.
The total money I spent was just Php 340.
Without knowing the idea of Spavings, I just spent Php 340 on books. But, because of Spavings I immediately transferred the Php1360 as part of my sinking fund.
However, because of the pandemic I stopped doing the challenge since I don’t really spend that much money anymore on a daily basis.
Still this challenge is great for those who are shopaholic and always in the lookout for the monthly sales on Shopee and Lazada.
How to do Spavings for Beginners
1. Commit to it
This is the first and the most important step when it comes to doing the spavings. You need to commit to it. Get clear with what you want to do after doing the challenge. Where will you spend the money? Will you add it on your first investment? Are you saving up for a new bag? New shoes? Just write it down and phase yourself in committing to it.
2. Track spavings
Tracking your spavings is the hardest part of this whole spaving challenge. You want to make sure every discount you get is tracked well so you can easily transfer the money as part of your savings. Another way you can do spavings is to simply track all the discounts you get throughout the month and deposit the equivalent into your dedicated savings account.
Here’s a dedicated explainer post on the What, Why, and How of Spavings
Money Jar or Alkansiya
Of course we can’t omit the mother of all money saving challenges, the Power of Alkansiya or Money Jar!
This classic money saving challenge is perfect if you’d like to maximize every peso you get in a daily basis.
On Season 1 Episode 4 of The SavingsPinay Podcast I talked about the Every Piso Counts Mentality.
When you have this sense of value to every piso that you earn you become better in spending it. You are aware of how many piso will cost you in buying that branded bag or that studded heels. You know that your piso today can be thousands later so why spend it in not that needed items.
Owning an alkansya is a very good habit for it purposely give you motivations to save.
I suggest saving only coins such as loose change through it. Bigger money should still be saved in a bank so that it earns interest. If you have enough savings already then its time for you to try investing to stocks, mutual funds or even your own business.
Sabi nga di ba, lahat naman nagsimula sa piso! Stop the Piso lang Naman mentality and start saying Piso Din Yan! This way you won’t let go easily in your impulse buying!
Read the Podcast | Listen to the Podcast
1% Money Challenge
The 1% Money Saving Challenge was first introduced to me through Paula’s blog, Afford Anything.
She wrote a post called Take The One Percent Challenge and explained how the challenge is done.
If you normally save nothing, save one percent of your after-tax income every month.
“How much is that?”
Just drop the last two digits of your monthly income. That’s it.
During the second month of saving, increase your savings by another one percent. In Month #3, add an additional one percent.
Here’s an example on how the 1% Money Saving Challenge works for someone with Php 20,000 monthly salary.
Different Ways You Can Apply The 1% Money Challenge
1. Emergency
For sure you have seen this coming but yes, you can definitely use whatever money you’ll save after the challenge as a start up emergency fund. Emergencies happen. And these are situations that doesn’t necessarily involve you getting admitted to hospital. Other cases where this fund will be helpful are unexpected lay-off, sudden death of a family member, natural disaster or your phone got stolen and you need a replacement.
2. Travel
When did you last travel? To travel is such a great goal, and something that could give a lifetime worth of happiness and memories especially when shared with the people you love. I said yes to travel this year which still feels surreal. I went on a trip with my whole family to Eastern Samar last March 2018. I also spent 4 days and 3 nights in Seoul, South Korea.
And before the year ends I have two more places to go to. Isn’t it amazing?
This 1% Money Saving Challenge could be the answer you’ve been waiting.
Related Read: How To Achieve Your Travel Goals In 3 Steps
3. Birthday
If you want to celebrate your birthday with a party without breaking the bank the why not save for it?
The amount may be too low but it is still good as a start, right? If you use 2% instead of 1%, then you can double the money you save.
You can also do this trick if you want to sponsor the special occasion of your loved one such as debut of your daughter or Golden Wedding Anniversary of your parents.
4. Debt Payment
Lastly, if you want to pay down some accumulating debt at once then the 1% Money Saving Challenge could be a good technique too.
Getting out of debt is one of the best financial move you can do in your life.
It promotes financial peace and security, more money to spend without guilt and improves your ability to save and invest.
The small savings you keep on a monthly basis can go a long way in reaching financial freedom.
Related Reads:
How to Get Rid of Debt and Reclaim Your Finances
Here’s a Strategy to Pay Debt Even with Low Salary
Automatic Saving Percentage
Last but not the least in this list of money saving challenges you can try this 2021 is the Automatic Saving Percentage.
It sounds complicated but this money saving challenge is actually really easy.
There are only two steps you need to do to take this money saving challenge.
- Select your saving percentage.
- Automate it through your online banking
Let’s go through the two steps.
First, select your saving percentage.
How much of your salary are you going to save every month? 10%? 20%?
If your salary is Php 25,000 and you choose a 10% saving rate it means you are committing to a Php 2500 a month money saved.
Ideally, the saving percentage for a person should be between 10% to 20%. This is where the 50-20-30 Budget Rule was developed.
However, you can also change this saving rate to a number you’re most comfortable with and where you will not be in debt.
Lastly, automate through online banking.
In the Automatic Saving Percentage Money Saving Challenge you’ll have to set your main account or payroll account to automatically deduct that saving percentage you set and move it to a second account.
Again a prerequisite if you’re taking this challenge is to apply for a second account under your main payroll account. If you don’t have within the same bank, you can also use a different bank account or digital bank like GCash, ING Bank and/or Paymaya through InstaPay.
Having a second account will enable you to track your savings easily.
How to set automatic fund transfer?
I can only share the process for Metrobank since it’s what I’ve been using.
Step 1. Login to your Metrobank Online account.
Step 2. From the Dashboard select Move Money.
Step up 3. Set up the amount and frequency on money you’d like to automatically transfer from your main payroll account to your savings account.
Final Notes from SavingsPinay
I know how a lot of you have been aiming to save more money this New Year. I hope this list of money saving challenges you can try help you select the most suitable one you can try this 2021.
Remember that saving money is important.
Now more than ever is the best time to save money. If you’ve been procrastinating on your financial situation then you might want to think again. Saving Money is more than just having a reserve amount. It means prioritizing yourself!
Which of the money saving challenges in this list have you tried?
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