Buenos dΓas, amigas dinero!
Some of these money saving challenges might seem simple and sillyβ¦ But, thatβs the whole point!
Itβs a scientific fact that you are 72% more likely to achieve your financial goals if you structure them as a fun and childish game. (And by βscientific factβ, I really mean that I just made this up in my head right now, but it seems legit 🤷♂️).Β Having more fun = getting more done.
A money savings challenge is typically done *in addition to* your regular saving habits, to achieve a short term savings goal. Most of these yield you a few thousand bucks at the end for you to invest, spend, or give away if youβre feeling generous!
Letβs get started!
Oh, and for you high-income super-savers out there who are capable of saving a lilβ faster than regular folks, try doubling the savings numbers (or shortening the time frames) to make it more challenging.
1. Money Envelopes Saving Challenge (Save up to $5,050!)
For this challenge, you grab 100 x blank envelopes and label them each with numbers 1 β 100. Scramble them up, then put them into a box. Each week, pick out 2 x envelopes at random, and whatever numbers you pick, you place that amount of money inside the envelopes.
Some weeks youβll pick high numbers, sometimes low numbers, but after 50 weeks of saving youβll have $5,050 in extra cash!
Iβve seen a few versions of this saving challenge floating around the interwebs over the past year or so. Depending on how much you wanna save, you could modify the challenge accordinglyβ¦
- 100 envelopes, open just 1 each week = $5050 in 2 years!
- 52 envelopes, labelled 1 β 52, open 1 each week = $1,378 in a year!
- βThe back halfβ: Only 50 x envelopes, but label them starting at #51 β 100 to skip all the low numbers. Thisβll get you $3,775 in a year :)
I know the year is already underway, and it seems weird to start a 52 week savings challenge in Februaryβ¦ But, itβs not too late to play catch up. Start by opening 5 or 6 weeks of envelopes all at once in the first month! Or, double up envelopes in a certain month when you expect a higher paycheck, etc.
2. A 52 Card Pickup Challenge (Save up to $1,352!)
This money challenge involves a deck of cards. Similar to the envelopes challenge, you shuffle all the cards and pick out 2 cards at random each week.Β
Add up the numbers on the face of each card you pick, and this is the amount of dollars you need to save that week. (Jacks = $11, Queens = $12, and Kings = $13. And if you want to keep Jokers in the deck, you could assign them a ridiculous number, like $100 if you pick a Joker)
For example, if you pick a 7 and a King, you gotta put $20 in the piggy bank that week.
Hereβs the kickerβ¦ Instead of discarding the cards after you draw them, you put them back into the deck each week. This keeps it fun and interesting because you never know if youβre picking high numbers or low numbers!
The lowest amount of money youβll save after 52 weeks is $104. (picking 2 x Aces each week) The highest is $1,352 (picking 2 x kings each week). But those are extreme odds.
On average the weekly savings will add up to ~$728 for this 52 week money challenge!
Bonus challenge: Pick up one of these money decks in which each playing card has a small educational money fact on it. May as well slowly increase your personal finance knowledge while youβre playing throughout the year!
3. Weekly Screen Time FINES (Save $500 – $3,000)
This one is a great idea helping 2 different ways in your life… Reducing screen-time AND boosting your savings account!
Basically, at the end of each week, you navigate to the Screen Time section of your smartphone, and pay yourself a βfineβ for the number of hours you spent on your phone that week.
Hereβs a screen grab of mine for example. Kind of embarrassing… My total screen time last week was 28 hours! OUCH.
Did you knowβ¦ Scientific research shows that by year 2030 the average person will be on their phone for 19 hours per day!!!??Β (I made this statistic up too, but wouldnβt be surprised if it actually comes true given the amount of zombies I see glued to their phones out there 🧐)
In all seriousness, a weekly reminder of a bad habit (screen time), that is paired with a good habit (saving money) can help both ways. Given my average screen time of 28 hours per week, Iβd have around ~$1,500 in extra money aka βfinesβ at the end of a 52 week challenge.
4. Let the Good Savings βRollβ (Save ~$1,277)
This saving challenge is kind of like the card pickups, but instead of cards, you roll dice! And instead of weekly, you roll daily!
Starting with 1 dice, rolled once per day, you save the number it lands on each day for an entire year.Β Rolling all 1βs for 365 days straight is the lowest youβll save ($365), but that is as practically impossible as rolling all 6βs each day ($2,190). More realistically, youβll end up closer to $1,277 on average in savings!
Not enough for you? Try rolling 2 x dice. Or even 3? Or⦅
Better yet, grab one of these Polyhedral 100 Sided Dice with numbers 1 through 100. Be careful though⦠Rolling this bad boy each day will get you saving an average of $18,000 after 365 rolls!
5. βThe Best Dealβ Savings Challenge (Compete against friends & family!)
This money challenge involves a group of friends to compete against. First, you set up a group text chain, WhatsApp group, Facebook group or whatever so all the members can talk to each other…
Then, everyone within the group shares at the end of each month their βbest dealβ that they found throughout the past month. It could be that someone saved $300 by switching car insurance, one person might have double-dipped with coupons to get a killer discount on a big purchase, or perhaps someone found some free stuff on Craigslist and sold it for $200 profit.
Everyone HAS to bring a deal story to the table. After hearing everyoneβs stories, the group collectively decides who wins βthe best dealβ that month. Could be a highest dollar amount, funniest story, or whatever.
Hereβs why this group challenge is awesome:
- It promotes a culture of βwinningβ: Sharing your success stories and celebrating other peopleβs successes is soooo important in life. It boosts morale, motivates people, and rewards good progress.
- You look for wins more regularly!: Throughout the month, youβll notice yourself looking for more deals, because you want to bring an awesome story to the table when the group meets. As others share their stories, itβll open up more ways and areas for you saving money.
- It helps your friends (they need it)!: Some of my friends look down on frugal living, and would scoff at a regular βmoney saving challenge.β But a βbest deal competitionβ… theyβre in! Little do they know you are helping them reduce spending, and subtly preaching good personal finance habits 🤫.
6. Weekday No Spend Challenge: (52 x $0 spend days!)
This is a little different than the regular βno spend challengeβ where people typically take 1 full month off of spending. Instead, this challenge is just picking 1 day of the week, and not spending any money on that particular day for an entire year.
What I like about no spend Wednesdays (or whatever week day you pick) is that it slowly forms habits that actually last. Making lunch instead of buying it, not grabbing that guilty pleasure energy drink on the way home, inviting friends βround for a board game instead of meeting them at the bar, etc. Itβs one thing going cold turkey for a month on spending, but a weekday no-spend challenge is a small, repetitive goal that gets you more conscious of your behavior.
Another cool thing is it actually saves more than the 1 month long no spend challenge. A month of no spending only saves 30 days of money. But a full day off each week is 52 x days of no spending. Almost double the impact.
As for the total amount of money saved, you could figure out your average daily spend outside of essentials (add up your amusement, dining, discretionary spending categories in your budget, divide by 365), then set that money aside each day in a specific checking account. Or, pulling the money out in cash is always a great idea, because it removes the dollars when you are checking your digital bank account balances or net worth, making it feel like βextra moneyβ at the end of the year!
7. Receipt Savings Challenge:
Ever seen this funny tweet or meme?…
@PaigeKellerman on Twitter
Haha! Itβs funny because receipts donβt lie. They reveal both bad spending habits as well as good ones.
For my wife and I, I like to think we are the opposite of this being broke statement… If you compile all of our receipts and stack them together, it would make a teeny tiny book about why we’re rich. Because most of our receipts would reveal discounts, promos, and weekly ad deals! (it would also reveal that we prolly drink too much, but thatβs another story!)
OK hereβs the receipt challengeβ¦Β
Every time you hit up the grocery store, pay attention to the βdiscountsβ and reduced price items youβre buying. Most stores total your savings at the bottom of your receipt when you check out. Hereβs one my wife brought home from shopping recently:
Each week, total up your savings and transfer that money to a separate savings account. In this example, Iβd throw $44 towards my savings goal.
You could say that this money is already βsavedβ because it wasnβt really charged to you in the first place… Yes, thatβs correct, and by manually moving the money to a separate account you are actually paying yourself, instead of the retailer.
Building up that money in a separate account means you wonβt accidentally spend it elsewhere. Not to mention, keeping track of your savings on a regular basis makes you more aware of discounts on future shopping trips.
8. Save all $5 and $50 Bills Challenge!
A while ago I read a challenge about saving every $5 bill you come across within the year. Sounded awesome! But, then it hit me that I rarely use cash. When I do use cash, itβs either spare change coins for the parking meter, or large $20 and $100 bills for cash deals at Estate Sales.
Since $5 bills are rare for me, Iβm including $50βs in this challenge as well. Sure, itβll hurt if I sell something on Craigslist for $500 and the person pays with 10 x $50 bills. But, thatβs the challenge! Itβs supposed to be hard!Β
I wonder how much I can collect in a year of $5βs and $50βs?
Or can anyone think of a digital money saving game similar that replaces the physical cash aspect of dollar bills?
Saving Money Challenges & Tips for Actually Finishing Them…
Many people start up a fun money saving challenge, then as time goes on they either forget weekly check-ins or lose motivation. So here are a few tips for success:
- Set weekly reminders in advance: A recurring phone alarm, a calendar reminder, pop up alerts, post-it notes, printed wall money saving chart⦠Whatever you can do to remind yourself weekly or monthly to stay on point will increase your chances of success.
- Get an βaccountabilibuddyβ: Itβs awesome when friends want to participate in the challenge with you (or against you 😉). If nobody wants to join, thatβs ok. Just making your challenges public and talking about them will hold you accountable.
- Have a specific reward in mind: Saving money just for moneyβs sake can be a bit boring. It helps if you have an idea of where the money will be put or spent at the end. A holiday trip, extra money for Christmas presents, beefing up your emergency fund, etc. For you investors out there, this extra cash could become βplay moneyβ to buy a few individual stocks you want to own outside your regular index fund strategy. Just an idea to keep the fun going and compounding after the challenge is over. :)
- Donβt bite off more than you can realistically chew: If you set a goal thatβs too high, it can kill your motivation if you donβt end up achieving it and leave a bad taste in your mouth. Start with an easy money saving challenge that you can crush!
Remember, the whole point is having fun. :)
Have a kick-ass day,
– Joel
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Love these fun game ideas! I’m not going to lie, I think I’m going to try out some of these in the upcoming months :) I really like the receipt challenge – and actually saving everything in a separate account that you ‘saved’ by going shopping anyway. It makes complete sense – so thank you for sharing! As you wrote, it’s important to not bite off more than you can chew… that’s something I have to keep reminding myself too when it comes to savings games. Awesome tips Joel!
Cheers,
Fiona
I want to see your receipts Fiona! You seem like a savvy shopper :)
A digital save your fives and fifties challenge:
Any time what you buy ends in the tens cents (x.10, x.30, etc) put ten times that amount in your extra account
Example: I spent USD35.10, I place USD1 in my extra account and if it evens out, then that is a doozie of USD10!!
That can change to all criticals (place ten times the amount for anything ending in cents divisible by 20, like a bill of 5.40 places four dollars and a bill of 5.50 places nothing), all ending in 5 (place five dollars for anything in the 25cent, 35cent 15cent etc.)
Whoa! I might need an app or something to figure this all out for me. I love leaving it up to chance though – sometimes saving small bits and sometimes larger amounts!
My old credit union used to allow to round up your purchases and put them into a saving account. So if your grocery is 127.75, then you can round up to 128 and they will put 25 cents into savings. I loved that until I had to change the credit union due to moving.
That’s really cool! There’s an app that does this also – called Acorns. All that tiny stuff adds up! I think all banks should make this a standard practice.
Interesting challenges. I especially like the money envelope saving challenge because I haven’t heard of that one yet.
I actually do wonder if we’ll spend the vast majority of our time glued to our phones.. Maybe computers will start going away and work will be done on a tablet or a smartphone. You never know.
Funny you should say that. One of the reasons my phone usage is so high is because I use voice to text sometimes when blogging and writing. So I can get outside for a 1 hour walk to exercise but “work” during that time by typing on the phone. I’m trying to use my computer less and less, but it’s really just being replaced with the phone. Bad trade actually!
I like this. Our family can definitely make use of the some of these games.
Yep, getting the whole family involved is fun too!