Why the 52-Week Savings Challenge Doesn’t Work

Ever heard of anyone who actually succeeded in doing the 52-week savings challenge? Last January 2014, I’ve read quite a number of blog posts encouraging readers to do this savings challenge. I’ve also seen several versions that transmuted the dollar values to peso with varying increments from 10 to 100 pesos. As 2015 started, I saw once more a host of blog posts about this challenge. However, I have yet to read about someone who has successfully completed the 52-week savings challenge. (In case you do know someone who’s had, please do let me know.)

Why the 52-Week Savings Challenge Doesn’t Work?

The original 52-week savings challenge was in US dollars and if you’re working in the US, it would be quite easy for you to set aside $50/week even on just a $3,000/month income(the median household income in the US). Given that saving $200/month is doable and won’t hurt the budget much, why save only $9 during the first month of the year?

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52-Week Savings Challenge

It’s an entirely different story for those in the Philippines where median household income is roughly 30,000 pesos which is just about $1,000. Setting aside almost 10,000 pesos in 3 consecutive months is near impossible.

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52-Week Savings Challenge in Philippine Pesos (initial savings of 50 pesos with 50-peso increments)

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52-Week Savings Challenge in Philippine Pesos (initial savings of 10 pesos with 10-peso increments)

For me, and many others I believe, this system just doesn’t work. Why? First, Saving should NOT be a challenge. You do not save just because everyone else is doing it or because someone designed a seemingly cool way of doing it. SAVING SHOULD BE A LIFESTYLE. Incorporate it in your daily life and it becomes as natural as breathing, but also requires a little out of the box thinking like considering how you could check up on your mortgage to save money.
Also, consider things like replacement windows which help you to save without even having to think about it.

Second, the 52-week savings challenge is somewhat impractical and inefficient. The original system has one saving $1 on the first week of the year, then $52 on its last week. Bulk of the savings fall on the months when expenditures are highest which makes this system impractical. Inefficient simply because there are simpler ways to save much more than the $1,378 total of the 52-week savings challenge.

An Efficient Way to Save

Have you heard of the Savings Equation? It goes like this:

INCOME – SAVINGS = EXPENSES

This, at least for me, is the best way you can grow your savings and, eventually, increase your investments. By setting aside money right after receiving your salary, you ensure monthly savings. This also disciplines you to live well within your means. How much should you save each month? Ideally, you should set around 20% of your income as savings; or 10% at the least. However, with the average salary of the working class, this may not be feasible.

Always save the maximum amount that you could while still having enough left for your basic needs. It doesn’t matter if it just amounts to 1,000 pesos per month – that would still give you 12,000/year which could double in 5 years time if invested wisely. Whatever amount you choose, the important thing is to set aside a specific amount every payday. Grow your savings by investing in mutual funds – you only need a minimum investment of 5,000 pesos so there’s no excuse not to have one.

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How to Save More

Want to increase your savings while barely noticing it? Use an old fashioned piggy bank or glass jar. When you get home every night, dump all the coins in your pocket and wallet into your piggy bank. If you need coins for transportation fees the next morning, set those aside first, then dump all the rest in the piggy. You’d be surprised how much your little piggy would weigh in just a few months.

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Live simply. Do you really need a new desktop, a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone EVERY YEAR? Why buy a 6,000 peso jacket when you can get a good one for a quarter of that price? Live well within your means. And for a little extra help, see how you can increase your income online click to earn money with Clixsense.

Again, let me leave you with this, Saving isn’t a challenge, SAVING IS A LIFESTYLE.

Put an Extra $1,000 In Your Pocket Now!

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Image courtesy of posterize / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra $1,000 laying around, either in savings or to be used on something special like an anniversary trip or home improvement project? Many of us could do with the extra money, even if it’s just to keep in the savings account. With this being said, there are some people out there who find that opting to get loans without credit check (as their credit score is not at its best) may be the answer to dealing with their financial stresses. As long as people are taking steps to better their financial situation, that’s a start. Anyway, while it may seem daunting at first, it’s actually quite feasible that you could pocket $1,000 over the course of three months if you break it down little by little. Saving $1,000 in three months means you would need to save approximately $333 each month. Let’s take a look at some ways you could do that:

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Give up your subscriptions. It’s a hard thing to do (and it probably won’t be easy to get your whole family on board) but paring down your cable bill in favor of online entertainment and cutting the newspaper delivery and any magazine subscriptions could save you at least $45 per month!

Give up two meals out per month. Even a great pizza special that costs $15 or $20 is going to cost more than serving a bowl of pasta or some grilled cheeses for dinner. If you make a concerted effort to cut down on your eating out, you’ll easily save $25 per month.

Reduce your cell phone bill. Take a hard look at your plan and usage and make sure that you’re not utilizing a plan that’s too large for your family or one that’s too small (leading to high overage charges). I’ve done this a number of times and reduced my monthly bill by at least $30 per month.

Refinance. Look into refinancing options for either your car or house. If you have a four-year, $15,000 car loan at five percent and look to refinance it for under two percent, you could save $20 per month. This just shows how much you could save when it comes to your car loan. Don’t forget though, that even before you consider taking out a car loan, you should check out some top companies first, just to make sure you are getting the better deal. When it comes to your mortgage though, a $200,000 mortgage at just 5.3 percent (a great rate just a few years ago) could be refinanced to 3.5% and save you over $210 per month. You can approach your mortgage broker about this who will be able to discuss this further with their mortgage wholesale lender so that the financing options can be looked through and approved.

Add one less lunch or coffee to the mix and you’ll easily save $333 each month. Check with your financial advisor to see if this is the right option for you.

The information in this article is provided for education and informational purposes only, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose. The information in this article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial or any other advice. The information in this article is general in nature and is not specific to you the user or anyone else.

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This article is a guest post by Anne Perkins. Anne is a freelance writer focused on how to live large on a little living. She writes financial savings tips for the online short-term loan company – QuickQuid. At her blog, AnnieIdea.com, you can get tips on how to take any idea and make it easier or cheaper to complete.