Saving Advice - Summer is an excellent time to boost your savings and hit your financial goals. Whether you want to build an emergency fund, get cash set aside for the upcoming holiday season, or anything else, there are plenty of short summer money-saving challenges that can help you hit the target. If you’re new to money-saving challenges or want to find ones that work well for the season, here’s what you need to know.
What’s a Money-Saving Challenge?
A money-saving challenge turns saving money into a game. You have specific rules to follow that help you get more cash into your savings account. Most are relatively simple, and many are adjustable, allowing you to shift the rules slightly based on your income level. Plus, an element of fun is part of many of them, making saving money feel less like a slog.
Summer Saving Money Challenges to Try
No-Spend Month One of the most straightforward summer saving money challenges is a no-spend month. With this, you don’t spend any money – aside from paying your bills – for at least 30 days straight. That means you have to plan in advance for your groceries, and you can’t make any entertainment, food, or other purchases during the money.
There may be some exceptions, but it requires some self-control. For example, you might allow yourself to purchase fresh produce as needed, as many types of produce won’t stay fresh for an entire month. But you need to ensure you don’t add anything to those purchases, so consider placing online grocery orders for pickup to avoid temptation.
For fuel for a car, you have two options. First, you can fill up as needed, suggesting you can avoid other purchases. Second, you can get gas station gift cards right before you begin the challenge to cover the full 30 days, allowing you to handle that cost in advance.
Keep the Change Challenge Another simple money challenge for summer that can lead to far more cash saved than you might expect is the Keep the Change challenge. With that, any time you make a purchase – including paying bills – you calculate how much change it takes to round up to the next dollar, and you put that in savings.
Usually, this option is easier if you use cash for purchases, as you get physical change you can put into a jar. Plus, that strategy lets you see how much you’re gathering, which can be rewarding and motivating. Still, it can work with debit cards or digital purchases, too. Just make sure to initiate the transfer after every purchase to keep on track.
Save the Coupon Challenge If you use coupons – a move that’s great for saving money – you can turn that habit into a new savings challenge. When you take advantage of a coupon (or rebate through an app), take the discount amount and move that much money into your savings account.
You can also take this one further by factoring in savings from sale prices or loyalty card discounts. With that, you may find yourself building up your savings account balance far faster than you’d expect.
Pantry Challenge With the pantry challenge, you lower your grocery bill by challenging yourself to make use of the food you already have on hand. Go through your pantry (and your freezer) and make a list of everything. Then, see how you can turn it into tasty meals without having to buy anything else, or that lets you highly limit your grocery shopping. Then, take the cash that would have gone to food and put it into savings.
30-Day Envelope Challenge For the 30-day envelope challenge, you’ll take 30 envelopes and put a piece of paper inside with an amount. You use the amounts from $1 to $30 each once. Then, every day, you grab an envelope at random, and that’s the cash you’re going to move into savings that day. At the end of the 30 days, you have $465. You can also repeat this challenge every month, giving yourself a day off if the month has 31 days or boosting your savings by whatever amount feels right on that extra day.
The Temperature Savings Challenge During the summer, temperatures are typically higher, and the temperature savings challenge takes advantage of that. Every day, you check the weather to see the daily high temperature. Then, you put a penny into savings for every degree. For example, if it’s 86°F outside, you’d move $0.86 into savings. Then, if the temperature hits 101°F the following day, you’d stash $1.01.
With this challenge, you’re saving small amounts, so you rarely feel the pinch, but it can add up. Also, this option can work well for kids you want to teach to save, as the amounts are manageable, and it shows them how a little effort can make a difference over time.
Ditch a Bad Habit Challenge If you have a bad habit that comes with a price tag, consider kicking it this summer and banking the savings. This can work for any habit you want to break, such as smoking, energy drinks, and more. You work your way off of the substance and then set the money you would have spent on it into a savings account.
The 1 Percent Challenge With the 1 percent challenge, all you need to do is take 1 percent of any incoming money – such as wages, gifts, bonuses, or any other source of income – and set it aside in savings. Usually, 1 percent isn’t a significant sum when compared to the whole, so it doesn’t feel difficult. But even little amounts add up, so it’s a challenge worth trying.
Plus, you can always adjust the percentage if you have the financial space. Moving to between 2 and 5 percent could be doable for many households, so consider bumping it up.
Roll the Dice Challenge The Roll the Dice challenge is another easy option that adds a bit of unpredictability. All you need to do is take a six-sided die and roll it every day. Then, the number you land on is the number of dollars you move to savings. For example, if you roll a three, then you stash $3.
A benefit here is that you don’t have to stick with just a six-sided die. Instead, you can use an eight, 10, 12, or 20-sided die in its place. Choose the one that allows you to put money into savings without creating an undue hardship. Just keep in mind that a higher number of sides means you’ll likely save more, so choose the highest option you feel you can manage.
Do you know of a summer saving money challenge people should try? Have you given a money-saving challenge a go before and want to tell others how it went? Share your thoughts in the comments below.