A fun way to try and build good savings habits is to make fun challenges where you set a savings goal and try to stick with it.
Saving money certainly is not easy over a long period of time, and can seem to be a bit of a drag at times. One way in which we can combat this is to somehow make fun out of the savings experience by taking part in challenges. The entertainment and competition that a challenge can bring out help to keep us engaged in our savings goals, while also enforcing long-term savings habits. Here are a few of the best money-saving challenges to check out.
52 Week Savings Challenge
A 52-week savings challenge entails that you commit to saving an amount of money each week for a year. You can save the same amount, such as $100 a year, which would give you an emergency fund of $5,200 by the end of the year. You could also save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, and so on. Either way, you will commit to a year-long challenge where you will have to consider how to save each week of the year.
“No Spend” Challenge
A “no spend “ challenge is where you go as long as you possibly can without making non-essential purchases. This means that if you are bored, you will have to find a way to entertain yourself for free. This challenge can really open your eyes to the things you can do without any money at all. It is fun to compete with a friend for this challenge to see who can make it longer.
Trim 1% of Your Salary
It is fun to see how you can trim a minimum of 1% of your annual salary, and go on to save the percentage point. On the surface, this may seem easy, but you will find that each percentage point of your salary typically gets its full usage. This challenge has excellent upside, as successful completion of it is essentially a 1% raise to your salary, which is a big deal for a simple fun challenge.