If you’re looking for a way to track your savings progress on a weekly – and yearly basis – the printable 52 week money challenge is an awesome way to keep on top of your goals. Additionally, it’s a great way to save towards those special treats we all need to enjoy every once in a while. The importance of saving money cannot be understated. Saving money is an important part of budgeting and being financially responsible.
Keeping track of how you’re doing with your savings is a challenge. We are so busy with our day-to-day lives. Work, family and fun can easily get in the way of setting aside time to keep track of our finances. I know that for me, if I don’t have a system to track how much I’m saving, I get off track. I become unaware of how close I am to saving towards certain goals. The printable 52 week money challenge can help you work towards your goals this year. It’s an enjoyable way to save money! Month over month, you’ll save more and more towards your goal. Additionally, using a template will save you time and make life easier.
Without further ado, let’s dive into how to participate in the printable 52 week money challenge.
What is the Printable 52 Week Money Challenge?
The printable 52 week money challenge is a fun activity that you and your whole family can participate in.
Choose an experience or item you want to save up for over the next year. This can be anything from a cross-country road trip, a new snowboard, or a new couch. There are so many things to save up for! Can’t choose something right away? Take 15 minutes to write down as many ideas as possible. You can set a timer on your phone so you can concentrate on writing. When the 15 minutes are up, take some time and number the items and experiences in order of priority. Once you’ve narrowed down the list, choose one item you want to save for. While it may be difficult to choose just one thing, you can always keep the list for future challenges!
Why is choosing a goal important? It’s incredibly difficult to achieve your savings challenge goal without an action plan. When you know what you’re saving towards, you have something to look forward to. Saving money isn’t always easy – there are so many temptations out there. When you have the end goal in mind, you’ll have a much more enjoyable experience saving for that Xbox or those plane tickets to Rome!
How Much Do I Need to Save?
After deciding on the experience or item you want to save towards, determine how much this item will cost. It’s always good to overestimate how much the item will cost. I like to add about 10% to the cost. For example, if I want to buy a new work wardrobe that will cost me $1000, I’ll add an extra $100 on top to my goal to account for any inflation or tax I didn’t factor in.
Once you’ve determined the total cost of the item, divide the number by 52 (the number of weeks in a year). If I need to save $1100 in a year, I’ll need to save $22 per month ($1100 / 52 = $21.15). Why $22 instead of $21.15? It’s easier to round up to the nearest dollar – both for you to remember and in terms of practicality when transferring the funds to your savings account or saving money in a jar.
If you’re feeling fancy, you can save a little bit more (or less) money each month. Just make sure that the total amount adds up to how much you need to save and that you’re being consistent. Use a printable money saving challenge template to help you stay on track (more on that mentioned in the next section).
After you’ve determined how much the item will cost and how much money you’ll need to save, choose a 52-week money challenge template that you like the most. Print the template and stick it in a place you’ll easily see it. The fridge or on the wall of the entrance to your apartment or house is a great place as it’ll serve as a daily visual reminder of what you’re working towards.
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Printable Money Challenge Templates
There are so many different templates you can use. Some help you track saving the exact same amount of money per month. Others let you save a little bit more each week. Choose a template that you like the most – and one that you think you can stick with!
If a specific template or plan isn’t working for you, you can always switch to a new one. Just be sure to stay on track with your savings goal. I don’t recommend switching templates more than once as you’ll want to stay consistent with your plan.
Here are a couple examples of some great templates. There are hundreds of free printable savings tracker ideas available to you online, but these templates show you two different approaches to the printable 52 week money challenge.
With this template, you save an extra $1 each week.
With this template, you’ll be saving the exact same amount each week. This is a great option if you want to keep it simple and put less pressure on yourself with saving more each week.
$500 is likely way too much to save per week for the average person. You can change the template amount to make it whatever figure you want, or you can find similar templates with a lower weekly amount.
Find more downloadable printable templates on Pinterest here.
How Do I Participate in the Printable 52 Week Money Challenge?
After deciding on your goal and determining how much money you’ll need to save, print out the template you’ve chosen and stick it in a visible area in your home. Set aside the amount of money you need to save each week. You can either do this by transferring the funds to a separate bank account or keeping a jar of money in a visible place in your home. Personally, I recommend tracking savings by keeping a separate bank account for your goals. When making a large purchase, it’s easier to pay for the big-ticket item with your credit card or debit card.
On the other hand, it may be too tempting to transfer funds out and spend it throughout the year. If you feel that you’re the type of person who may be tempted to do this, stick with the jar of money! It’ll serve as a visual reminder of your goal. Additionally, it’s exciting to see the physical money filling up in the jar throughout the year.
Tracking Your Goals
Another way to motivate you to stick with the 52 week money challenge? Print a picture of the item or experience you’re saving for. Print out a picture or make a collage on PowerPoint of your goal. Put the picture in a visible place in your home. It’ll serve as a daily reminder of your big reward at the end of the 52 week money challenge!
Remember – there is no minimum amount of money you need to save. It’s your choice! Just be realistic about your goals. For example, if you’ve never saved more than $50 a month, it’s unrealistic that you’ll be able to put away $10,000 for a massive trip to Antarctica. This isn’t to discourage you – rather, it’s to remind you that we are all human and will be tempted to spend the money. 52 weeks is a long time to stick with a goal. You can do it, but be realistic with your goals! If you set achievable goals and stick with tracking savings, the 52 week money challenge will be a fun and enjoyable experience!
How Effective is the 52 Week Money Challenge?
How you do with the 52 week money challenge will largely depend on several factors: how well you planned, how much thought you put into how you’ll save the money (in a jar or a bank account), if you place a visual reminder in your home (printable chart, collages) and if you reward yourself with treats to celebrate your progress throughout the year.
Throughout the 52 week money challenge, reward yourself at the end of the month – if you’ve been tracking savings and know that you’ve hit your savings goal! Take an extra amount of cash to treat yourself to a little something – maybe a speciality coffee or trip to a national park? Don’t spend crazy amounts and get off track though! A little treat here and there is just fine, but don’t get carried away!
Conclusion – Printable 52 Week Money Challenge
The printable 52 week money challenge is an enjoyable way for anyone to work towards a larger savings goal and create long-term savings habits. When done consistently, the printable 52 week money challenge can kickstart lifelong positive saving habits. The challenge is fun, easy and great for the whole family – or just you! Why not try another challenge such as a Frugal Friday challenge or a low spend month challenge? The possibilities are endless!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
