The money challenges that could save you more than £1,300 this year!
Two simple ways to put aside some money in 2020.
We’d all love to make sure we have some cash stashed away for a rainy day. Whether it’s for an unexpected bill or towards a longed-for holiday, it would be nice to make sure we’ve got a little nest egg to turn back on.
And while there are plenty of ways to try and cut back our spending – from shopping in the UK’s best outlets, to taking on some jobs at home to earn some extra cash or even buying out of date food – life is expensive and the idea of putting away a meaningful amount of cash is scary.
But, this easy money challenges could help you save more than £1300 this year.
So how do they work?
First up, is the weekly challenge - you transfer some money over to your savings account in easy, manageable chunks. But every week, the amount increases slightly, allowing you to save a big lump sum.
So this means on week one you would transfer just £1, then £2 the following week, followed by £3 as shown below, culminating in £1378.
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| 52-week money saving challenge | |||||
| Week | Saving | Balance | Week | Saving | Balance |
| 1 | £1 | £1 | 27 | £27 | £378 |
| 2 | £2 | £3 | 28 | £28 | £406 |
| 3 | £3 | £6 | 29 | £29 | £435 |
| 4 | £4 | £10 | 30 | £30 | £465 |
| 5 | £5 | £15 | 31 | £31 | £496 |
| 6 | £6 | £21 | 32 | £32 | £528 |
| 7 | £7 | £28 | 33 | £33 | £561 |
| 8 | £8 | £36 | 34 | £34 | £595 |
| 9 | £9 | £45 | 35 | £35 | £630 |
| 10 | £10 | £55 | 36 | £36 | £666 |
| 11 | £11 | £66 | 37 | £37 | £703 |
| 12 | £12 | £78 | 38 | £38 | £741 |
| 13 | £13 | £91 | 39 | £39 | £780 |
| 14 | £14 | £105 | 40 | £40 | £820 |
| 15 | £15 | £120 | 41 | £41 | £861 |
| 16 | £16 | £136 | 42 | £42 | £903 |
| 17 | £17 | £153 | 43 | £43 | £946 |
| 18 | £18 | £171 | 44 | £44 | £990 |
| 19 | £19 | £190 | 45 | £45 | £1035 |
| 20 | £20 | £210 | 46 | £46 | £1081 |
| 21 | £21 | £231 | 47 | £47 | £1128 |
| 22 | £22 | £253 | 48 | £48 | £1176 |
| 23 | £23 | £276 | 49 | £49 | £1225 |
| 24 | 24 | £300 | 50 | £50 | £1275 |
| 25 | 25 | £325 | 51 | £51 | £1326 |
| 26 | 26 | £351 | 52 | £52 | £1378 |
If you're worried about saving up the bigger amounts in December and you'd like to balance it out. You could try another easy method of saving each day.
On Monday transfer £1, Tuesday £2, Wednesday £3, Thursday £4, Friday £5, Saturday £5 and on Sunday, £7. Then on Monday, you’d start again by transferring over £1 to your savings pot, only to build back up to £7 by Sunday again.
Each week, you’d therefore save £28 – which if you follow the saving pattern for a whole year would add up to £1,456. That’s a whole lot of cash to have put aside for whatever you might need.
For those who don’t want to transfer the money daily, set a direct debit for £28 a week and you’ll come to the same total.
Because it’s split into small chunks of cash, it’s a much easier saving challenge to follow and one that you’ll barely notice leaving your account each day.
So why not make 2020 the year that you start putting away small amounts towards the future? Whatever that may involve.
