Last updated on 12 January 2023
Wow, it’s the year 2021, still in a pandemic and life is not how we would have imagined it to be. What a crazy thought! But, here’s a 52 Week Challenge for you. Get to save over R13k in one year. Also known as the 52 week saving plan, you can sign up and start at any time. I’ll guide you through the challenge with emails for the weekly savings plan.
Save almost R13,780 in one year!
The 52 Week Savings Challenge is quite an easy concept and a fun challenge, but it can be quite tricky, especially if you’re not in the habit of saving money or if you don’t exactly have spare money lying around.
In the “traditional” weekly savings plan, one would save R10 in the first week, R20 in the second, R30 in the third and so on until you get to R500 in week 50, R510 in week 51 and R520 in week 52. You get the pattern.
It seems really easy in the beginning and the first 10 weeks aren’t exactly challenging. But, as you can see from the table below, things get really tough, especially when you need to save over R400 each and every week. That can put quite a strain on things.
Mix up the weekly savings plan
Another way to do it would be to randomise the figures and save a big amount this week and a smaller amount next week. Or when you’re feeling flush to save more money and save less at other times.
I actually prefer the second variation of the “mix it up” as it kind of evens things out and makes the last few months of saving easier than it would be in the standard method.
Will you join me?
I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about the new year and the challenge and have worked out a nice way to complete the 52 weeks saving challenge. I’ve set up a weekly email which will give you the weekly savings target along with the full amount you’re meant to have saved (in case you fall behind and need to catch up). In fact some people prefer a monthly to set aside an amount of money each month and in that case you could simply save the “catch up” amount needed at the end of each month.
The weekly emails follow the “Mix it up” version shown above.
However you plan to do it, just start!
You can join me in this challenge and we can motivate each other to keep it going. I’d love to hear from you via Facebook & Twitter and your experiences and sharing could help others too.I’ve also added tips and tricks to the weekly emails and these relate to budgeting, cash flow, managing your money, etc.
Remember,you can start this 52 week saving plan at any time!
JOIN THE WEEKLY SAVINGS PLAN HERE
You can join a community of South Africans who are actively participating in the 52 week savings challenge and you can share your successes and hardships.
Take the admin and worry out of the challenge and simply follow each weeks goal as it’s sent out! Imagine how you’ll feel after a year knowing that you saved R13,780!
It’s free, it’s fun and it’s really simple with a weekly email telling you how much to save!
The 52 week savings plan pdf in Rands
Here is the downloadable 52 week savings plan pdf in Rands to help you track your progress.
What can I do if the 52 week savings challenge is too hard?
It’s understandable that not everyone can save this amount of money. You could take a spreadsheet and create you own type of challenge, or you could read the emails I send each week and save half the recommended amount.
Also have a look at some common places you may be able to “find money”.
How can I save more money?
If the 52 weeks savings plan is too simple for you then you could try to “double-up” the money each week. Or perhaps this isn’t the correct type of challenge for you. Find something that suites your income and savings ability.
How can I do the 52 week savings challenge on a monthly basis?
Now that’s really simple, just ignore the emails I send and read the last one each month and deposit the full amount to equal the figure you should have saved to date. Each email shows you how much to save for the week as well as the running total so it’s pretty easy to catch up.
