We DARE You to Try the 52-Week Money Challenge!

Let’s talk about practicality

Image Source: BankrateAlmost half of the year went by already. Time is just passing us by. Before you know it, –ber months will kick in and it’s going to be the season for spending. Money is also passing us by *sigh*. We are all disciplined to save whatever loose change we have at a young age to instill the right balance of saving and spending. As we grow older, our lifestyle is a big factor in determining our budget, which actually makes saving a bit of a challenge. Your obsession to have that toned bod makes you allot money for gym classes, sportswear clothing, and protein food supplements. Or your obsession over geek stuff will make you buy every single collectible you can lay your hands on. Whatever your lifestyle choice is, saving money to splurge on stuff that matters to you is your priority. And now, We DARE You to Try the 52-Week Money Challenge!

Saving money is a manageable, lifestyle skill. Each of us has his/her own proven saving technique. What works for one might not work for another. But the famous of them all is the 52-week money challenge wherein for a week, you will dedicate yourself to saving a particular amount, and the next week, you will save double of that amount. The increments increase as the week progresses. For example, you save P50 this week. Next week, you are obliged to save P100. It sounds easy but it gets hard in the long run.

If you are one of those people who tried the 52-week money challenge but got sidetracked in the long run, we feel you. If you can’t beat it, then hack it! Here’s some of life hacks solutions that will make saving easy peasy.

Determine which money – saving technique is right for you.

1. Can’t keep up with the 52-week challenge? Try the 12-month challenge instead

The thing with the 52-week money challenge is its unrealistically high saving expectations for people whose low to mid-range income can only deliver. Plus, 52 weeks of saving is too long a period that you might lose interest setting aside money for week 18. The 12-month challenge, authored by Alvin T. Tabañag, RFP, is an offshoot to the 52-week money challenge, only made easier and practical to save money because the amount you regularly save is computed based on your monthly income. The formula is, you set aside a particular amount for the month (base amount), plus additional monthly savings (month number x salary income). For those earning P 20,000, you can opt to follow Table 1, which shows you can save money even if your base amount is 0.

Image Source: Rappler

Alvin made it easier for us to determine how much should we set aside per month, depending on our monthly income.

Image Source: Rappler