9 Creative Money Challenge Ideas [ + Free Savings Trackers ]
Melanie dj • 15 July 2023
If you’re anything like me, your days are beautifully full. Between homeschooling, managing a household of four little ones, folding endless laundry, and trying to keep everyone fed, there are days when finding twenty minutes to look at a budget feels like a luxury.
When you’re stuck in that exhausting cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck, the idea of "saving money" can feel like just another overwhelming chore on your never-ending to-do list. But it doesn’t have to be.
You don’t need a complicated, high-maintenance financial system to gain traction. Sometimes, all your budget needs is a little spark of momentum. That’s where a gentle money-saving challenge comes in.
Completing a simple savings challenge can give your family a little breathing room, fund an unexpected emergency, or help build up your momentum if you're working through a debt snowball. Best of all, you don’t have to wait until January 1st to hit reset. You can start exactly where you are today.
Here are 9 creative, mom-friendly money challenges that actually fit into a busy life—plus free printable trackers to keep it simple and visual!
9 Money Saving Challenges for Every Budget
1. 100 Envelope Challenge
The 100 envelope savings challenge offers a simple and creative way to pile up cash over 100 days! Before starting the challenge, decide where you'll keep your funds. You can keep your cash in the envelope, make weekly deposits, or complete the challenge digitally. Ultimately, it depends on your spending habits and what you are comfortable with.
After determining where to keep your cash, follow these steps to complete the 100 envelope challenge:
- Grab 100 envelopes and label them 1-100. If completing the challenge digitally, open a separate savings account to deposit your funds into everyday.
- Put the envelopes in a bin, basket, or box and shuffle them.
- Randomly select an envelope from the basket, or go in order.
- Find a way to fill the envelope with cash, either by increasing income or cutting expenses.
- Repeat the process for 100 days.
- Determine what to do with the $5,050 savings!
100 Envelope Challenge Chart
The 100 envelope challenge can seem daunting at first, especially since you have be consistent for 100 days.
Having a visual in front of you will help you stay focused and motivated (especially on the days you pick a high dollar envelope)!
You can get a free printable savings challenge for every single challenge on this page. Tape the printable for the challenge you are working on to your fridge, or somewhere else where you will see it often.
If you miss one day, don't beat yourself up! Simply start fresh the next day and press forward. I once learned a simple rule: if you miss one day, don't miss two. There's a good chance something unexpected will come up during your savings challenge. Instead of being discouraged, press pause on the challenge for however long is needed (day, week, month), then get back on track.
For the higher dollar challenges (like this one), consider keeping your cash in the bank instead of in the envelope. Create a deposit schedule and deposit your funds on a weekly basis.
2. 52 Week Money Challenge
The classic 52-week savings challenge is a simple way to save $1,378 over the course of one year. To complete this challenge, simply save $1 on week 1, $2 on week 2, $3 on week 3, and so on so forth for 52 weeks. On week 52, after a deposit of $52, savings will total $1,378!
You can make it fun by choosing different creative ways to save money every week. Maybe one week you cut out your daily latte or weekly car wash. Maybe the next you give yourself a bit more of a challenge and decide to not go to the grocery store all week.
The classic savings challenge is a great way to save money if you're paid weekly or monthly. You can deposit your savings every week, or keep them in a cash envelope until the challenge is over, whatever you prefer.
Before you start, set a specific goal of what you will put your savings towards. For example, set a goal to pay cash for all your Chritsmas gifts and use this savings plan to execute your goal!
Homeschooling families: This is an incredible, practical math and stewardship lesson to do alongside your kids! Let them help you check off the weeks. You can use this challenge to specifically fund a cash-only Christmas, curriculum for the upcoming school year, or a much-needed family weekend getaway.
Spin Off: Biweekly Savings Plan
Alternatively, if you have a biweekly pay schedule, you can complete the classic savings challenge in 26 weeks instead! To complete, you will save every other week instead of every week, in order to line up with your pay schedule.
| Day | Deposit | Total Saved | Day | Deposit | Total Saved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 55 | 406 |
| 2 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 59 | 465 |
| 3 | 11 | 21 | 16 | 63 | 528 |
| 4 | 15 | 36 | 17 | 67 | 595 |
| 5 | 19 | 55 | 18 | 71 | 666 |
| 6 | 23 | 78 | 19 | 75 | 741 |
| 7 | 27 | 105 | 20 | 79 | 820 |
| 8 | 31 | 136 | 21 | 83 | 903 |
| 9 | 27 | 171 | 22 | 87 | 990 |
| 10 | 39 | 210 | 23 | 91 | 1081 |
| 11 | 43 | 253 | 24 | 95 | 1176 |
| 12 | 47 | 300 | 25 | 99 | 1275 |
| 13 | 43 | 351 | 26 | 103 | 1378 |
3. $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge
Saving $1,000 is a great way to build up your emergency fund, which should be 3-6 months of household expenses.
To complete this challenge, color in the jars in order for 30 days. Alternatively, you can randomly pick a jar each day and save out of order. The only downside to completing the challenge out of order is that you might be tempted to pick all the low challenges first. Then, as you progress and have only high-dollar challenges left, you might become discouraged and give up the challenge completely.
I recommend completing the challenge in order to keep yoruself on track and for an added measure of self-discipline!
At the beginning of each day, try to think of a creative way to save money by either cutting expenses or bringing in more income. At the end of 30 days, you'll have $1,000 to put towards your money goals!
4. $10k Savings Challenge
If you want to set a lofty savings goal, opt for the $10k savings challenge! This challenge is great if you need to save up a large amount of money in a short period of time, for example:
- Saving for a home down payment
- Stocking up your emergency fund
- Saving for a car replacement
- Kids college fund savings
- Cash-flowing a home remodel
- Paying off consumer debt using the debt snowball
- Boosting your retirement savings
This challenge will require you to save anywhere from $125 to $300 every week for 52 weeks. While this can seem like a big feat, you'll be surprised at how much you can save by making small, gradual changes over time.
5. Penny Challenge
The penny challenge is the perfect savings challenge for a lower income. Maybe you're looking at the other challenges feeling a bit overwhelmed and discouraged because they just won't fit into your budget right now. Don't fret! The penny challenge is do-able for every budget- you can even have your kids join in on the challenge and save a good chunk of cash! With this savings challenge, your biggest daily deposit is $3.65, less than the cost of a morning latte :)
To complete the challenge, start by saving $0.01 on day 1, $0.02 on day 2, and so on so forth for 365 days. You can put your pennies in to a jar and wait until the end of the challenge to deposit, or deposit on a schedule (weekly, monthly, etc) throughout the course of the challenge.On the final day, add $3.65 to your savings, which will total $667.50!
Get creative with where to find spare change. Consider shopping with cash so no tonly will you have pennies to deposit and avoid a trip to the bank, but you'll curb poor spending habits shopping with cash!
6. 30-Day Dollar Savings Challenge
The 30-day $1k savings challenge is a shortened version of the 52-week savings challenge. Instead of saving $1k in 52 weeks, you'll save $465 in 30 days! The concept is the same for both challenges, increasing deposit amounts by $1. However, rather than increasing your savings by $1 per week, for this challenge you will increase your savings by $1 per day.
To complete the challenge, save $1 on day 1, $2 on day 2, $3 on day 3, and so on so forth for 30 days. Finally, on day 30, save $30. After the final deposit, your savings will total $465.
You can also complete this money challenge using the envelope method, labeling the envelopes 1-30 and picking a different envelope to fill with cash each day.
This is a great way to beef up your emergency fund, increase your retirement savings, or boost your sinking funds!
Buy a new piece of furniture, save for homeschool curriculum, etc.
7. $5k Bi Weekly Savings Challenge
This bi weekly savings challenge allows you to save up $5k over the course of a year by setting aside $200 from every bi weekly paycheck! On week 1, save $200. On week 2, save $200. Repeat the process for 26 weeks and before you know it you'll have $5k to work with! For a visual motivator, get the free savings tracker, filling it in as you make progress. Furthermore, be sure to put your $200 savings as line item in your bi weekly budget (or weekly budget).
💡Tip: If you're on a bi weekly pay schedule, it can be hard to create and stick to a monthly budget. I find it easiest to budget every paycheck> instead of the entire month.
You will still keep a broad monthly budget (what I call the "big picture" budget), but breaking the process down into smaller, more manageable chunks will help you stick to the budget. Think of the paycheck budget as a "min-budget" that is a puzzle piece of your "big-picture" monthly budget.
8. No Spend Challenge
Unlike the other savings challenges, you can't complete the no-spend challenge by increasing your income and keeping your spending habits. If you're looking to reset your spending habits, this challenge is what you need!
Despite it's name, the no-spend challenge doesn't require you to not spend any money, rather, it requires spending money only on necessities for a set period of time. This challenge is designed to change your money behaviors, forcing you to be both resourceful and intentional with your money. As a result, you'll have to carefully think through every purchase you make, determining if it's a want or a need.
What qualifies as a necessity will vary from person to person based on their unique situation.
However, in general, necessities typically include:
- Food (groceries)
- Transportation (gas/fuel, parking passes, insurances, etc.)
- Housing (mortgage, taxes, insurance, HOA fees, etc.)
- Utilities (electric, gas, sewer, water, trash, internet, etc.)
- Childcare (as required for work)
- Medical care
Obviously, more items will be on the necessity list for some people. The goal isn't to see how many items you can do mental gymnastics to move them from the non-necessity category to the necessity category. The goal is to challenge yourself and change poor spending habits! You know better than anyone what areas you struggle with impulsive or unorganized spending- don't cheat yourself.
9. Trim Your Salary 1% Challenge
Just as it sounds, to complete this challenge, determine what 1% of your annual income is, and set a goal to save that amount! The idea is to give yourself a 1% raise without making extreme budget cuts. Instead, break it down into smaller chunks by month.
For example, if you make $60k per year, 1% of your annual income would be $600. To save $600 in one year, you need to save $50 per month. Brainstorm and make a list of one or a few expenses you can cut each month of the year to save $50. Maybe one month you don't buy any new clothes. The next month, go out to eat two times instead of three. You get the idea!
You can cut the same expense every month, or you can change it up and cut/trim a different expense each month. Whatever works best for your personality and situation!
Tips for Success with Savings Challenges
Saving money doesn't have to be complicated. Some of my favorite ways to save money quickly include:
- Create a monthly budget. If you're not budgeting your finances every month, the first time you create a monthly budget it will feel like you got a raise! This is one of the simplest, quickest ways to find money to spare.
- Curb impulsive spending habits with cash envelopes. Studies show when we use cash to shop, we spend less than when we use debit or credit cards, because our willingness to pay goes down.
- Use a visual motivator. Keep a visual motivator like the savings challenge printable templates to help you stay focused on your goal. Fill in the shapes as you go so you're reminded of your progress.
- Cancel subscriptions. One of the quickest ways to save money is to evaluate all your monthly subscriptions and cancel any that you don't use or that aren't worth the return on investment. In our digital age it's easy to let these expenses slip under the radar without realizing how much you're spending on them every month! Automatic renewals, apple pay, and other conveniences come with a price, they are designed for a passive consumer.
- Shop your pantry. Instead of making your meal plan and grocery list from scratch, start with what you already have on hand and focus on using it first. This reduces food waste and drastically reduces grocery spending on a monthly basis.
What is the easiest savings challenge to start with?
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