Have you heard of the 52 week savings challenge?
You know, that awesome, money saving trick that helps your save $1378 in just one year, without feeling like you are struggling to save!
Well, today, I want to share with you one of my favorite spin-off versions of the 52 week challenge.
Think of it almost like an UNO reverse on the challenge.
Say hello to the Reverse 52 week savings challenge!
What is the 52 week reverse challenge?
The 52 week challenge, but done in reverse, is a trick to actually make the 52 week challenge easier to accomplish.
The original 52 week challenge has you start the first week of the year (sometime around January 1), and save $1 that first week.
The second week of the year you are supposed to save $2. The third week $3 and so on.
So that, by the end of the year (think December!) you are saving $50 a week and beyond.
Now, this is a great saving trick.
But do you know what happens EVERY December?
If you said “the holidays” or “Christmas” you would be correct!
December is known for being an expensive month!
Add in trying to save $50+ a week, and suddenly the challenge doesn’t seem as fun or “easy”.
So, why not flip it on its head?!
Instead of saving the bigger numbers in the challenge at the end of the year, start the year saving the largest numbers and work down from there.
So, the first week of the year you will save $52.
The second week you will save $51. And so on.
In this version of the 52 week challenge, you are saving one dollar less each week.
But you will still save the same amount.
Saving more money at the beginning of the year will make it easier to finish the challenge, since you (probably) won’t have as many things vying for your money.
(If you have a bunch of birthdays in January…. Try one of these savings trackers to help you prep in advance for those).
How to keep track of how much to save during the 52 week money challenge?
Since you are progressively saving less each week, it could be tricky to remember how much you are supposed to save on any given week.
Not to worry! We got you covered there. We have created this Reverse 52 week challenge tracker just for this purpose.
Here is how it works.
First pick your start date.
Then, that first week, save your first amount of money ($52). Once you have done that, check off that amount on the tracker.
The next week, save the next amount ($51) and check off week 2 on the tracker.
Keep doing this process for the whole year.
Once every week has had the required amount saved and every week is checked off, you will have finished the challenge and saved $1378. Woohoo!!
Using a tracker like this one can help you stay organized with this challenge, but also help you stay motivated.
You will know in a glance how much you have saved, and how much is left to go.
Final Thoughts on the Reverse 52 week money challenge
Keeping a money saving goal like this visual really helps keep the motivation going, especially when you feel like it is a slog through the middle.
That is why the tracker we created is a great tool to make the challenge visual!
So now you can give the Reverse 52 week challenge a try and save over $1000 this year!
Make sure to get your copy of the tracker here!