Six money-saving challenges that could help you put away £6,890 this year (2024)

Finances have been - and will continue to be - tight over the next 12 months and many of us would like to try and put money aside for a range of different reasons.

You could be looking to boost your emergency fund, prepare for a big life milestone such as getting married or saving towards a house deposit.

Whatever your reason, it's hard to do - particularly over recent years as our monthly budgets have been tightened.

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One way many have managed to build a cash pot is by committing to a savings challenge. These give you a map of how much you should be putting away and when in order to build a cash pot.

Here we have listed a range of different savings challenges you could take on this year.

Monday to Friday savings challenge - £780

This one requires you to put some cash away five days each week. You start by saving £1 on Monday then increase this amount by £1 a day until Friday - so £2 on Tuesday, £3 on Wednesday, £4 on Thursday and £5 on Friday. In total, you would save £15 a week and over the year, this adds up to an impressive £780. If you only do half of this challenge or do it every other week, you would still save £390 by the end of the year.

Monday to Sunday savings challenge - £1,456

This one is a harder version of the Monday to Friday challenge, as it includes every single day of the week.

The principle is the same, so you save £1 on Monday and then increase this amount by £1 a day - but this time, you go all the way through to Sunday when you save £7. You would save £28 each week through this challenge, which would add up to £1,456 by the end of the year. If you complete half of it, you would put away £728.

Six money-saving challenges that could help you put away £6,890 this year (1)

365 Day Savings Challenge - save £366

This likely is the simplest challenge to take on as it requires you to put away some money every single day of the year. You can choose how much you can save each day and repeat that throughout the year. So if you choose to put away £1 a day then you will come out with £365 by the end of the year - however, 2024 is a leap year with the extra date of February 29 - so this year you could save £366.

If you wanna go big or go home and you choose to put away £5 a day then you could end up with a cash pot worth £1,80 by the end of the year.

1p savings challenge - £671

This challenge is another daily savings challenge but this one starts with putting away 1p and adding an extra penny each day throughout the year. So on January 1, you put away a single penny into a savings account - you can always put it into a jar if you want to be a little old school - and then on January 2 you put away 2p, and on January 3 it's 3p and so on.

Finally, on the final day of the year, you would transfer over £3.65 which will give you an eventual total of £667.95. However, in 2024, the leap year makes it a little as on the final day of the year you will be putting £3.66 into your savings pot. Due to this extra day, your savings total will be £671.61.

You can also do this one in reverse too - so on January 1, you put away £3.66 and do down from there. This approach means you will be putting less money away at the end of the year in December when you may need it most.

Six money-saving challenges that could help you put away £6,890 this year (2)

52 week savings challenge - save £1,378

With this challenge, you increase the amount you save by £1 each week. So the first week in January you would save £1, then the second week you put away £2, all the way to the final week of December where you save £52.

The most you could potentially save is £1,378 if you complete the challenge - this doesn't change with the leap year in 2024. If you don't make it all the way, you could potentially build up a savings pot worth £351 if you commit for six months.

You can also adapt this challenge and make it 26 weeks instead. This would be ideal for someone who is paid fortnightly. The end saving outcome is the same but how it works is a little more complicated.

The idea is that you start on week two and save £3 (so that’s the £1 from week one, and the £2 from week two), and then in week four, you’ll save £7 (week three and four). This may make it harder to follow, but it can help spread out your savings. If you are going to do this one you may want to make a plan of how much you need to put away each time to help you stick to it.

£5 savings challenge - save £6,890

The fiver challenge is an ambitious one and may suit someone who is saving for a milestone. The £5 saving challenge involves increasing the amount you put away by £5 each week. So on the first week of January, you'll save £5, on the second you put away £10, on the third week it'll be £15 - all the way up to week 52 at £260. If you complete this challenge, you could save an impressive £6,890 by the end of the year. If you make it halfway you still would put away a sizable cash pot worth £1,755.

Six money-saving challenges that could help you put away £6,890 this year (2024)

FAQs

What is the $5000 challenge in a year? ›

“Chunk” Your Savings

The first step to saving $5,000 in a year is to break down your savings goal into manageable portions. The easiest way to do this is to “chunk” your savings contributions so they align with your pay schedule. For instance, if you're paid weekly, aim to save around $97 each week.

What are the challenges of saving money? ›

7 barriers that keep us from saving money (and how to knock them down)
  • Spending too much on housing.
  • No defined budget.
  • The “I'll save when I make more money” mindset.
  • Lack of measurable savings goals.
  • Student loan payments.
  • Your comfort zone.
  • Overusing credit cards.

Does the 52-week money challenge work? ›

But know that this savings plan is effective, and it can help you sock away more than a thousand dollars in a year — $1,378 to be exact. You could build up even more if you put the funds in a high-yield savings account. Doing the challenge takes commitment, but it's easy to start.

How does the 365 penny challenge work? ›

The premise of the Penny Challenge is simple: You start by saving one penny on day one, two pennies on day two, three pennies on day three, and so on. Each day, you increase the number of pennies you save by one until day 365, where you will save $3.65. By the end of the year, you'll have saved a total of $667.95!

What is the $10000 challenge? ›

The 52-Week Savings Challenge helps you to gradually save up the money to reach your goal of $10,000. This $10,000 Savings Challenge Printable can serve you for so many purposes, such as paying off debt, setting it aside for a house down-payment, taking a vacation, increasing your emergency fund and much more.

What is the 52 envelope challenge? ›

There are no complicated rules to remember. Week 1, you save $1.00. Week 2 you save $2.00, and it continues through the year, adding one more dollar to each week's savings goal. By Week 52, you'll set aside $52.00, which will bring the year's total savings to $1,378!

What is the 5 savings challenge? ›

The fiver challenge - save £7,000

This challenge works the same as the 52 week challenge, but you go up in multiples of £5 rather than £1. So week one = £5, week two = £10, all the way up to week 52 at £260. Alternatively, if you're not in the position to save these larger amounts, you could save £5 every week instead.

What is the 1000 savings challenge? ›

The 30-Day Savings Challenge helps you to gradually save up the money to reach your goal of $1,000. On the first day, you are only saving $5! Yep, that's right, only $5! I know you can hit that goal! ▼ You might also like my Budget Excel Templates!

What is the best money saving challenge? ›

100 Envelope Challenge

To begin, gather 100 envelopes and sequentially number them $1 through $100. On day one, you'll place $1 in envelope one. On day two, you'll add $2 to envelope two, and so on. Place each envelope in a safe place, and by the end of the challenge, you'll have saved $5,050.

What is the 365 day money challenge? ›

The 365-Day Penny Challenge: With this challenge, people make a daily savings deposit and increase their deposit by a penny a day. At the end of a year, they have $667.95 of savings.

What is the 5050 savings challenge? ›

The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.

What is the $1 challenge? ›

Match each week's savings amount with the number of the week in your challenge. In other words, you'll save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week, and so on until you put away $52 in week 52.

What is the $5 Challenge? ›

You simply save every single $5 bill you get. So, whenever you get change you will be hoarding those $5 bills like a chipmunk collecting nuts for winter. You can use a piggy bank or simply make a $5 challenge envelope to keep your cold hard cash in.

What is the 1 penny challenge? ›

The 1p saving challenge is a popular money saving challenge where you make a minimal daily deposit to grow your savings over time. This challenge requires you to save 1 penny on the first day, gradually increasing the amount by adding 1 penny each day, and maintaining the daily incremental increase for 365 days.

How much is 1 penny a day for a year? ›

It's easy to save a penny, right? Save $0.01 on day one and $0.02 on day two, continuing to add another penny to your savings goal each day. The penny challenge can save you over $600 in just a year!

How does the 5000 money challenge work? ›

It works like this: Gather 100 envelopes and number them from 1 to 100. Each day, fill up one envelope with the amount of cash corresponding to the number on the envelope. You can fill up the envelopes in order or pick them at random. After you've filled up all the envelopes, you'll have a total savings of $5,050.

How much money is the 52-week challenge? ›

You'll end the challenge with over $1,300 saved If you successfully complete the 52-week money challenge, you'll have $1,378 set aside. You may have that earmarked for a specific financial goal —or you may choose to put it in a high-yield savings account as the start of emergency savings, if you don't already have one.

How much is $5000 a week for one year? ›

If you make $5,000 per week, your Yearly salary would be $260,000. This result is obtained by multiplying your base salary by the amount of hours, week, and months you work in a year, assuming you work 40 hours a week. How much tax do I pay if I make $5,000 per week?

What is the $5 dollar challenge for a year? ›

$5 A Day Challenge

If you save $5 everyday, you will save $1,825 in just a year. That's a great way to save for a starter emergency fund. It may be easier to save weekly if you are going to deduct it from your paycheck. You would need to set aside $35 a week to save the same amount.

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