Lucky 13 Savings Challenge!

Have you  heard of the 52 Week Money Challenge? I may be one of the last people on the planet to learn about it. I was talking to one of my aunts last night and she mentioned that she and everyone in her office is doing it.

It's a pretty cool idea. The people who were in the know started at the very beginning of the year. For each week of the year, you save the amount of money according the number of weeks.

For the first week of the year, you save $1.00. The next week you save $2.00. Up until the last week of the year, when you save $52.00. By the end of the year, you would have saved $1,378.00.

It makes saving kind of fun. My Workout Tips Jar has been quite effective. Although I had to raid the funds to put toward a new vehicle. The new chair will have to wait. Hopefully it won't completely collapse while someone is sitting in it. But I digress....

I like the idea of the challenge except for a few things. I'm late starting. A year is a long time to stick to this schedule with no wiggle room. Some weeks are better than others and emergencies happen. Like your car giving out.

Also, at the end of the year when many people are scrounging for the last penny to put towards Christmas shopping is when we're supposed to be saving the most money. I tried to think of a way to modify this challenge to still have fun saving a decent amount of money, but be a bit easier. I came up with something and maybe some of you might like to join me in trying it out.

The Lucky 13 Savings Challenge starts this week on February 13 and lasts for 13 weeks. The number 13 has always been lucky for me and this feels like my own personal lottery. The jackpot isn't huge, but it's guaranteed if I stick with the plan.

Instead of saving money in a jar, automatic transfers from a checking account to savings account might work best and is what I'm doing. Saving $38.50 for 13 weeks will total $500.50. Plus you will accrue some interest depending upon your savings account.

$500.00 is a decent amount of money, at least for me, and you can use it for anything you want. Donate to a charity. Attend a pricey event. Pay down some debt. Take a weekend trip. Buy some summer clothes. Yes, summer!

Even though this winter has been hideously cold and I'm stone cold down with the snow, I know that it will end. The 13th week will be the week of May 8th! I'm all about enjoying the present, but looking towards May does make me happy.

This savings challenge is a countdown to warm weather. We'll all have $500.00 and there will be no snow! At least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.

Most of us could use $500.00. So why not try it? Do it because you love yourself. February 13th is the day before Valentine's Day. Starting this challenge will be your gift to you.

*Updated 2/17/2014* I shared this post on LinkedIn and got some great suggestions! If you do this challenge with another person, but in separate accounts, you would be encouraging each other and both of you would have $500.00 at the end or you could pool your resources and have $1,000.00 between the two of you in 13 weeks. In a twist to this suggestion, two or more people could do the challenge separately, but also into a joint fund. More money and interest!

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Photo: Courtesy of WPClipart


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