3 Savings Challenges to Accept This Year

Call me crazy, but I think personal finance should be FUN! You should — and can — manage, save, and budget your money in creative ways to make this everyday necessity more exciting than stressful. I mean, what is more rewarding than totally crushing your savings challenges?! What’s more exhilarating than seeing your savings balance go up-up-up each month as you get closer to that vacation goal or rainy day fund? What about the growing sense of security that reveals itself with every dollar saved? It’s exciting, right? 

Now, a monthly automatic deposit into your savings account is exciting, but have you considered taking a savings challenge to really push your savings potential? To make this year’s savings goal a little more spunky and ambitious, consider embarking on one of these three creative savings challenges. 

You should — and can — manage, save, and budget your money in creative ways to make this everyday necessity more exciting than stressful.

1. Receipt Rebel Challenge. When you are out shopping, have you ever inspected the bottom of your receipt? Often, there’s a section titled MONEY SAVED, detailing how you saved on this shopping trip after the sales, coupons, and markdowns. This challenge is simple: Transfer the amount of “money saved” straight to your savings account. This adds a little mystery to your savings challenge as you never know what amount the receipt will say. Challenge yourself to save this amount at each store that shows this, or simply pick one store and focus on those savings. 

Bonus tip: Want to save more with receipts? Scan your receipts with Fetch Rewards and rack up points to redeem for sweet perks like gift cards, charitable donations, and magazine subscriptions. Download the Fetch Rewards app, join with code M68KCQ, and earn 2,000 bonus points!

2. Budget Bytes Challenge. For this next challenge, head on over to one of my favorite meal-planning sites, Budget Bytes. This site showcases delicious and creative dishes for small budgets. For one month this year, challenge yourself to only spend $5 per meal. Watch your grocery budget shrink, and send the amount of money you saved to your goals at the end of the month. 

3. $20 Tuesday Challenge. The challenge is all in the name for this one. Each Tuesday this year, send $20 to your savings or investment accounts. By the end of the year, you’ll have saved an extra $1,040! 

Psst…need a little help choosing a goal or tracking your savings? Grab our Goal Planner and Savings Tracker in our resource library for FREE!