Save more. Pay off debt. Start saving in the first place. Maybe buy yourself a holiday in 2019?
One or two of these New Year’s resolutions might be appearing on your list this year and, to make things easier, Apartment Therapy has devised a 365 day savings challenge.
It’s sustainable, so you’re not finishing 2018 scrambling to meet your saving goals while failing to organise Christmas presents. And it’s manageable – it won’t leave you short from month-to-month.
Sustainable and manageable. Two (somewhat) boring words you want to hear when it comes to budgeting.
With this method, the numbers grow larger day-to-day, and then reset at the beginning of each week.
You put aside $1 on Monday, $2 on Tuesday, $3 on Wednesday, etc. Then start the process from $1 again the following Monday. It equates to saving $28 each week and $112 each month.
While you’re embarking on the money challenge, Splitwise is the app you need to streamline your spendings. Jessie Stephens recommends it, on Mamamia Out Loud.
The challenge is an improvement on the 52 Week Plan, a tried-and-tested saving method by which you slowly build up your contributions throughout the year.
Under this plan, you put away $1 in the first week of the year, $2 in the second week of the year, all the way up to $52 at the end of the year.
Problem is, this sees you saving the largest amounts of money during the most expensive time period. Christmas and New Year’s.
The 365 day challenge is more manageable and it will see you save $1456 in a year – which is $78 more than the 52 Week Plan.
Good luck!
