If you struggle to save money on a weekly basis, participating in a savings challenge can be a helpful way to make your financial objectives appear more achievable. Additionally, a savings challenge can assist in establishing a money-saving routine that can transform a non-saver into a super-saver by increasing their savings account balance. Regardless of the amount saved, the effort and preparation required to complete a biweekly savings challenge are worthwhile.
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What Is a Biweekly Money Saving Challenge?
Biweekly savings challenges typically align with pay periods, meaning that you would need to set aside money every two weeks, equating to 26 paychecks in total. Whether you’re struggling to save or looking to increase your savings, here are some biweekly challenges that may be beneficial.
8 Great Biweekly Money-Saving Challenges
It’s important to note that a savings challenge may not be feasible if the set goal is unattainable based on the individual’s income and budget. However, it’s possible to modify each challenge to suit your financial situation and savings approach.
1. 52-Week Biweekly Challenge
To follow the 52-week savings challenge, you typically begin by saving $1 during the first week, followed by increasing the amount you save by $1 each week until the final week when you save $52. By completing this challenge, you can save $1,378 in a year.
If you prefer to make it a biweekly challenge, you can still use the same system but start with $5 instead and then add $5 biweekly. This will result in savings of $1,985 at the end of the challenge.
2. 26-Week Biweekly Challenge
This challenge involves gradually increasing your biweekly savings by a predetermined amount over 26 pay periods. For instance, if you begin with $4 in the first pay period, you would add $4 to your savings every subsequent pay period, resulting in $8 in the second pay period, $12 in the third, and so on. By the 26th paycheck, you would save $104, which would amount to $1,404 in total savings over a year.
However, this challenge can be tailored to suit any budget. If you start with $3 and raise your savings by $3 each pay period, you would have a total savings of $1,053 after one year. To take on a more ambitious challenge, you could increase your savings by $5 increments, resulting in a total of $1,755 saved after one year.
3. No Spend Challenge
The classic no-spend challenge involves not spending money on non-essential items for a month. To add some variety, you can alternate your spending and no-spending weeks. This means that you switch off between not spending money biweekly, which can help keep the challenge more interesting. By doing this, you will begin to see your savings grow.
However, it’s crucial to make sure you put the money that you didn’t spend during a no-spending week into a savings account, rather than spending it the following week. This way, you’re ensuring that you’re making progress toward your savings goal and not just postponing the spending.
4. $20 Money-Saving Challenge
The usual $20 money-saving challenge is designed to be accomplished on a weekly basis, but the frequency of saving and the specific amount can be adjusted to fit your preferences. For example, you can opt to have an automatic transfer of a predetermined amount from your checking to your savings account with every pay period to fulfill the challenge without requiring any extra steps. If you switch to a biweekly version of this challenge, you can even accumulate savings of more than $1,040 over a year. This method is an excellent way to establish a consistent savings habit that fits your individual needs and preferences.
Savings Based on 5 Biweekly Installments Over 26 Weeks
5. $2,023 in the 2023 Challenge
If you prefer a savings challenge with a little more flexibility, the $2,023 in 2023 Challenge might be perfect for you. With this challenge, you have the freedom to decide how much you want to save and when, as long as you reach the total by the end of the year. This means that if you have a tough week financially, you can save a little less and make it up later without feeling like you’re falling short of your goal.
To participate in the biweekly version of this challenge, you must save a minimum of $77.81 every two weeks. This amount might seem daunting, but when you break it down, it becomes much more achievable.
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6. Trim 1% of Your Salary Challenge
Budgeting for this challenge is easy for those who are paid biweekly. If you receive a paycheck of $1,500 every two weeks, you can save $15 per pay period. By doing this, you can save hundreds of dollars per year and create an emergency fund.
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7. Bowl Grab Challenge
A fun and simple way for the whole family to save money is to keep a large bowl in a shared area of your home. On slips of paper, write down different amounts of money, such as $5, $20, and $50, and put them in the bowl. Every two weeks, have someone in the family draw a slip of paper and deposit the amount written on it into the bowl savings. This is a great way to save money and have fun while doing it.
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8. Biweekly 100 Envelope Challenge
While breaking up a daily challenge into a biweekly challenge may seem difficult, it’s not impossible. The popular 100 Envelope Challenge can be adapted to a biweekly format in a few different ways.
The classic steps for this challenge are as follows:
- Get 100 empty envelopes.
- Number each envelope from one to 100.
- Store your envelopes in a container.
- Shuffle the envelopes in random order.
- Select an envelope at random every other week for the biweekly version.
- Place the amount specified into the envelope.
- Put the filled envelope aside.
- Track your savings progress.
By completing this challenge every day for 100 days, you can save $5,000 or more, depending on the timeframe you choose. However, if you don’t want to pick an envelope daily, you can switch it to every other day and follow the same process. Alternatively, you could spread out the 100 envelopes over two weeks for a biweekly challenge. In either case, you would still be able to save $5,000, but it would take longer to complete the challenge.
Other Popular Money-Saving Challenges
If a biweekly money-saving challenge doesn’t suit your income and budget, there are other ways to reach your savings goals. Consider trying these popular money-saving challenges:
- The Pantry Challenge
- Change Your Grocery Store Challenge
- The 100 Envelope Challenge
- 52-Week Challenge
- No Eating Out For a Month Challenge
- $5 Trick
To maximize your savings, you may want to open a dedicated savings account for your chosen challenge. This account can also double as an emergency fund to help you deal with unexpected expenses. Keeping this account separate from your regular bank account can help you resist the temptation to dip into savings for discretionary spending.
Conclusion
Turning money-saving into a game can motivate non-savers to develop long-lasting habits. It’s important to choose a savings challenge that is challenging but still achievable. Look for a biweekly money-saving challenge that aligns with your budget and savings goals.
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