Are you looking for a savings challenge that is easy to complete, and helps you develop a savings habit? By completing a 52-week savings challenge, you are not only saving money consistently over an extended period, but you are also improving your financial health over time. Here are 5 simple steps on how to start a 52-week savings challenge.

Note: This is a reformatted version of a previous post. Please READ THIS if you’d like more information.

Set Your 52-week Savings Goal

The best part about a 52-week savings challenge is that it occurs over a year. So whether you start on January 1st or July 10th, you are saving money over the course of a year {ending your savings challenge on December 31st, or July 9th}.

So how much do you want to save? What are you saving for? Having that end goal in mind of how much money you want to save, and what you want to do with it will help you have a concrete savings amount in mind.

If you have a predetermined amount you want to save up for within a year, you would divide that amount by 52. For example, if you wanted to save $2,500 throughout the year, you would need to save roughly $48 to set aside each week.

What if I don’t have a predetermined amount?

You can still complete the challenge anyways!

You could also set a savings goal of $5 per week. Or every $1 you have for the week.

If cash budgets aren’t your thing, you could round up every debit purchase to the nearest $5 or $10 increment, setting aside the difference in a separate savings account.

It’s your challenge, and you can get as creative as you want with it!

Choose Your Savings Schedule

You might be thinking, Kate… I just determined my goal, why do I need a savings schedule? Well, a consistent savings schedule will lend to improved financial discipline and financial responsibility.

I like to think that the savings schedule is determined by my savings goal but accompanied by a specific time frame.

To use the examples from before, if my savings goal is $2,500 over the year, I would save $48 each week. But when during the week do I set that money aside? That’s your savings schedule.

Use A Savings Tracker To Track Your Progress

Whether you use a notebook, a budgeting app, or my free printable in my Resource Library, be sure to regularly track and review your progress.

When you are tracking your larger savings goals by weekly increments, makes the overall savings goal much more achievable. After all, saving $48 weekly seems more easily achieved than telling yourself you will eventually save up $2,500 within the next year.

Tracking that progress helps you feel accomplished by your progress, but also help you remain committed to your overall financial goals.

Don’t Be Afraid To Adapt & Modify

Nothing feels worse than pausing on a goal you have because you feel that you cannot contribute the full amount to it. I am here to tell you that any … and I mean ANY … progress you make towards your savings goal is better than no progress at all.

To go back to the original example, if you are saving $48 per week, but you can only save $3 one week, allot the remaining $45 to a different week, or spread it out by $1 over 45 weeks, making your goal now $49 per week.

Stressing over how you will complete this challenge isn’t the point of the challenge. The point is to know that you can have a steadily growing savings amount, which will reduce your financial stress and anxiety. Peace of mind is the name of the game here, not more stress.

Don’t be afraid to adapt and modify your plan as needed to help you stay on track with your overall financial goals, and remember that any progress toward your savings goals is better than no progress.

Remain Consistent (& Motivated)

No matter what your savings goal or schedule is, the best way to stay on top of your progress is to remain consistent. This helps you see that you are making that progress, no matter how small it may seem each week. Even the small amounts add up over time.

You can be more consistent with your savings schedule if you pair it with something that you already do as part of your financial routine. If you review and reconcile your budgets on a Thursday evening, take the extra two or three minutes to check in with your savings challenge, and to update your tracker.

By remaining consistent, you’ll also be motivated since it will help you remember why you are participating in this savings challenge. Additionally, completing a savings challenge will allow you to become financially aware of where your money goes, and helps to teach you where you can make small adjustments to continue to prioritize savings.

Automate Your Savings – but know it’s optional

If you know that you are in a phase of life where you are very busy, do your best to automate your savings contributions.

While I like to keep a hands-on approach to my budgets, I also know that there are certain seasons {marching band season in particular}, where I get overwhelmed and go straight into auto-pilot. It’s all about survival mode for me, and when things are not glaring me in the face – like a savings challenge – it will undoubtedly fall behind. So for me, August through December is when I would automate any savings challenges I am working on.

If this also sounds like you, remember to look at the year ahead, and see where you can automate your savings.

By creating a savings Goal and schedule, tracking your progress, modifying when necessary, and remaining consistent, you have all the steps you need to start a 52-week savings challenge. What are you going to be saving for? Let me know in the comments below!