52 Week Savings Challenge

[luvsJack]

My co-worker and i were talking about it this morning. For both of us starting at the lower end works better.

We get paid once a month, at the end of the month normally but in December we get paid around mid month and then not again until the end of January--it can be a loooonnnnnggg stretch between paydays. She is single so this would hinder her commitment to more than starting with $1.

For me, dh just had two small weeks at work. With no where accepting loads for two days out of each holiday week, it puts a huge damper on the first two checks of the year. So, for us, it would be easier to stick to it the way it is written.

So, both of us are in--but doing it from $1 to $52.

[mrsdrake625]

This is a great idea - can anyone share the method they use to do the savings, i.e. cookie jar, online savings account, and how you plan to "set aside" the money? I ask because we

(a) don't often use physical cash (to put in a jar)
(b) don't have a bank branch near us, and use online banking a lot

Thanks for sharing.

[BearcatsFan]

Thank you for posting, this, OP!

I think we'll start at the higher end. We're getting ready to open up a savings account for our 2014 WDW trip, and I found a local bank with a "goal setter" savings that will pay us double the effective interest rate once we reach our goal.

[SaraJayne]

Originally Posted by mrsdrake625

This is a great idea - can anyone share the method they use to do the savings, i.e. cookie jar, online savings account, and how you plan to "set aside" the money? I ask because we

(a) don't often use physical cash (to put in a jar)
(b) don't have a bank branch near us, and use online banking a lot

Thanks for sharing.

Does your bank allow automatic, recurring transfers? We have them set up through our 2 different banks.

[LisaR]

Thanks for posting. I showed it to my 17 y/o and she would like to give it a try. I think this is the perfect thing for someone her age who tries to save but isn't always successful. She is going to do it in reverse since she has tons of Christmas money. Unfortunately, her work hours were cut back so we will see how far she gets.

[jetskigrl]

This is interesting timing because I just posted something similar to this on another board.

What I do when I have a big vacation coming up is place $20 in an envelope every week to be used for spending money. Since my vacations are usually planned a year in advance, it gives me plenty of time to do this.

I don't miss the $20 each week and it sure adds up fast. For our upcoming cruise, I will have $1320 in that envelope because I have been adding my $20 each week since I booked it.

[HippieChickadee]

I love the reverse idea!! I might do that!

Or I thought I could hang up the chart on the fridge and maybe skip around amounts, crossing out the weeks/amounts as I "use" them. That way if I could only come up with- say- $40 dollars one week, I could cross out the $40 week, leaving the smaller amounts for harder weeks and using the higher amounts for easier weeks.

I am going to use a cookie jar

[mrssmith06]

Originally Posted by HippieChickadee

I love the reverse idea!! I might do that!

Or I thought I could hang up the chart on the fridge and maybe skip around amounts, crossing out the weeks/amounts as I "use" them. That way if I could only come up with- say- $40 dollars one week, I could cross out the $40 week, leaving the smaller amounts for harder weeks and using the higher amounts for easier weeks.

I am going to use a cookie jar

This is what I was thinking of doing is saving whatever amount best fits my budget that week and then cross it off. That would work best for us, because DH's pay varies so much and plus trying to save the higher amounts in December, at Christmas, would be way hard!!!

[married2mm]

I'm joining in too- but mine will be in £' s not $' s, but it's a great idea- going for the reverse plan also.

[denisenh]

Originally Posted by HippieChickadee

I love the reverse idea!! I might do that!

Or I thought I could hang up the chart on the fridge and maybe skip around amounts, crossing out the weeks/amounts as I "use" them. That way if I could only come up with- say- $40 dollars one week, I could cross out the $40 week, leaving the smaller amounts for harder weeks and using the higher amounts for easier weeks.

I am going to use a cookie jar

i like this.

thanks to the op for posting too!

[maxiesmom]

Hey, I'm so glad I found this thread! I posted about this on the budget board, and the very first response I got was about how useless of an idea it was.

I transferred my $1 to savings today, but now you have me thinking that it might be easier to manage in reverse. I may have to look into that.

[BearcatsFan]

I just printed out a copy to hang on my fridge for extra motivation and a reminder.

[Goof-abulous]

I absolutely love this idea. I like the thought of one of the posters who said if there wasn't enough money to cross off a different day then when you have the extra put back to the day you substituted. 😄

[daughtersrus]

Originally Posted by mrsdrake625

This is a great idea - can anyone share the method they use to do the savings, i.e. cookie jar, online savings account, and how you plan to "set aside" the money? I ask because we

(a) don't often use physical cash (to put in a jar)
(b) don't have a bank branch near us, and use online banking a lot

Thanks for sharing.

If you use a debit card, you can get cash back at no extra cost at most stores.

[Cantw8]

I think it sounds like an awesome way to put aside some vacation money. Thank you, OP