Viral Challenges are usually fun but it could be much more than a fun activity.
It could be used to achieve much bigger outcomes than social media likes. For example, it could help you add a lot more zeros to your savings account.
Money challenges are a great way to do just that. Money challenges are best described as challenges that are related to money or finances. For example, a money challenge that challenges you to “Make $5 a day using a new method each day for the next 30 days.”
The aim of this challenge is to open your mind to the unlimited number of ways money could be made.
And of course, you might not successfully complete this challenge but you will surely be better off if you tried.
In this post, I will be providing you with several money-saving challenges, from the most simple of challenges to those that truly take dedication to complete.
The best part about these money challenges is that you can choose what best suits your long-term or short-term financial goals.
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Benefits of doing Money Challenges
We all have our own reasons for wanting to increase savings, from wanting to build an emergency fund, to help pay off debt or to save some capital so that one day you can buy or build a house.
Whatever your reasons are, Money challenges can be the perfect solution. They allow you to set your own goals based on your needs and wants for either a long or short period of time.
Almost all of these challenges can be customized and you will be able to decide what exactly you would like to get out of them. They are quick, easy to manage and you can really see a big difference with little effort involved.
The best thing about these life-changing challenges is that you can start one at any point in your life. I think we could all agree one of the greatest feelings in the world would be to have financial freedom and these challenges can get you well on your way to just that.
List of Money Saving Challenges
We try to make saving money so much harder than it has to be! Especially when there are so many options for money saving opportunities.
Here, I’ve provided you with some fun money saving challenges that anyone can do, so take your pick and get saving!
1. The Daily Challenge
This challenge is designed to being flexible for any type of income. You can choose to save month-to-month or try to challenge yourself for an entire year.
Start off on Day One by setting aside $1, and continue to add one dollar a day, all the way up to Day Seven where you will have set aside $7.
At the end of the week, you will have set aside $28.
By the end of the month you will have saved $115 to $118 and if you were to do this for an entire year, you will have set aside $1,380 to $1,416.
If you want to challenge yourself further and your budget allows for it, you can also try doubling what you’ve set aside each day.
Day One: $1, Day Two: $2, Day Three: $4, Day Four: $8, Day Five: $16, Day Six: $32, and on Day Seven: set aside $64.
That comes out to be a savings of $127 a week, $511 to $515 a month, or $6,132 to $6,180 a year!
2. The Weekly Challenge
This challenge is also known as the 52-week money challenge. There are so many variations of this challenge and you can’t go wrong, whichever variation you choose. The original 52-week challenge starts with you setting aside $1 the first week of the year and each week after you put aside another dollar.
For example, you’ll be setting aside $2 the second week, $3 the third week all the way until the last week of the year where you should set aside $52.
A variation of this challenge is to start backward and work your way down from $52 the first week of the year until the last week of the year where you would set aside $1. Some people like to start this way because they may have an end of year bonus that makes it easier to start with the higher amount at the beginning of the challenge.
Another variation when you have the income is to increase the increments by $10 each week. Therefore, for Week One, you set aside $10, for Week Two, set aside $20, and so on until you reach $520 in the 52nd week. This is an extreme savings challenge but if you have the funds, it can be quite rewarding at the end of the year.
The random 52-week money challenge allows you to choose your savings based off of your goals for the year.
Let me explain this a little bit better:
Say you want to save $1,300 by the end of the year. You need to be setting aside $25 each week. To make this possible, you can adjust the amount you set aside each week depending on your needs.
You can set aside $20 one week, $30 the next week, and $25 for the last two weeks to keep yourself on target for your end of the year savings goal. There are so many variations of this challenge, which makes it super easy to customize according to your specific goals.
3. The Monthly Challenge
This challenge is designed similar to the weekly challenge but instead of lower weekly savings, you set aside larger amounts of money each month.
Starting with January, set aside $25. With every month after that, increase the amount by $25 until you reach $150 in June. Then in July, start by setting aside $150 and continue decreasing in increments of $25 each month back down until you set aside $25 in December. At the end of the year, you could save up to $1,050.
4. Save the Bill Challenge
This popular money challenge allows you to choose a certain bill or coin depending on your countries currency, to set aside every time you receive it. This could be the $1 bill, $5 bill, $10 bill, etc., the choice is yours. Set the chosen bill aside any time you find one in your possession and keep it in a safe place where you won’t be tempted to spend it.
At the end of the year or even for a shorter period of time, you will be amazed at how fast this can actually add up when doing this challenge. This challenge, however, takes a large amount of discipline because it requires you to actually know that you’re setting money aside and have the willpower to not reach for it and use it!
5. The Jar Challenge
What’s more annoying than having to keep up with your loose change? Whether it’s weighing down your purse or your pockets, this is the best way to get rid of all that added weight.
In this simple challenge, you won’t necessarily save yourself large sums of money, but it is still a great way to get started in the right direction of saving continuously.
For the Jar challenge, all you are required to do is at the end of the day collect all your loose change and place it in a jar, piggy bank, a plastic bottle, or whatever you can find that’s lying around your house.
Collect your change throughout the year and at the end of the year take the time to roll the coins yourself and bring them directly to the bank. You‘ll be surprised at what little effort it takes to save with this challenge.
Another variation of this challenge is to choose a certain coin to collect and put away in your jar. You’ll be shocked by how quickly dimes or quarters can add up in the end.
6. Sell your Stuff Challenge
You might know this challenge as simply decluttering your house or apartment.
Let‘s face it. We all buy things we swear we need at the time and hardly end up using after we bring it home.
We tend to collect an excessive amount of different objects from purses, shoes, and clothes to power tools, electronics or even furniture.
In this challenge, you are to search through all your possessions and figure out what you really need to keep and what you could possibly resell. Anything that is slightly worn or used is great for resale. You can use platforms such as eBay or even have a simple garage sale once or twice a year. This is a great way to earn the money back that you once frivolously spent.
7. Debt Repayment Challenge
Finally paying off your credit card, student loan, or car payment?
This challenge is best-suited for those who are trying to get out from their debt and would like to start saving immediately. All that this money-saving challenge requires is for you to transfer whatever monthly payments you’re making towards paying off your debt into a savings account instead.
You‘ll be saving money without even having to dip into your take-home income since it was previously being accounted for in your monthly debt repayment.
What could be better than saving money you already have but that wasn’t previously available to use?
8. Savings Round-Up Challenge
Have you ever noticed at the bottom of most receipts they have a savings summary of how much you happened to save on your purchases that day?
Well, for this challenge you should collect all of your receipts during the week. At the end of the week add up all of your savings summaries and round up to the next whole number. Transfer or set aside whatever your savings amount was for that week. Try this challenge for a month or an entire year. If you are an avid shopper this could really add up big time.
9. Expense Minimizer Challenge
This challenge takes major dedication. In the Expense Minimizer Challenge, you’ll be decreasing your monthly expenses by choosing cheaper options.
It takes a lot of effort to complete this challenge so it is probably best to only start off with a couple of expenses per week.
Is your cell phone plan the most affordable of all the retailers?
How about your cable bill, do you really need all those channels you never watch? Why not try streaming TV instead?
Would bundling home and auto insurance save you some money or maybe you can find a less expensive supermarket and save some money on groceries?
This will take a lot of research and commitment but could be very worth it in the end. Search around and find what the best and most affordable options are out there for you.
10. The NO Spending Challenge
Exactly what the title says, in this challenge you will not be spending money on anything but your regular monthly bills and groceries. No buying food or drinks, new clothes or anything for entertainment such as concert tickets, movie tickets, magazines, etc.
You can choose to challenge yourself for a day, a weekend, a month, or even a year if you are disciplined enough to try it. This could not only help you realize what the real necessities are in life but that everything else is just a waste of your hard-earned money.
Take Away
We could all be on our way to being financially free if we just make the commitment to try a Money Saving Challenge.
All of the suggested challenges listed above are made to be doable by anyone, big income, little income, for one week, one month, or one year.
They are perfectly customizable for each individual who chooses to participate in one based off of their own individual goals.
Have you ever taken the plunge into one of these Money Saving Challenges? Perhaps you have a success story you would like to share with us?
There are so many different types of money saving challenges out there that maybe you know of one not mentioned in our list. Comment and let us know what we are missing out on, and how successful, or not, you were with your own money saving challenge.
