Making her debut for HerBusiness, Lulu Kimbio serves you the 52-week savings challenge. Will you be able to handle it?
Saving is a challenge. Not necessarily because you don’t have the money, rather you lack discipline. Saving works similarly to exercising and dieting; you need discipline to stick to your workout or dietary plan so that you get your desired results.
It is almost guaranteed that many of us have “save wisely” or “actually save” as one of our new year’s resolution. What better way to actually start saving wisely than taking part in the 52 Week Savings Challenge.
The 52 Week Savings Challenge is quite popular and you too can join the bandwagon and feel good about saving by the end of the year. However, you must be warned that you need to be extremely prepared and disciplined before you start saving. As the savings challenge name suggests, you will be required to save money each week for 52 weeks with your target savings amount increased every week.
For instance if you started off Week 1 by saving Ksh50, Week 2 you save Ksh100, Week 3 you save Ksh150, this week (Week 4) you should be saving Ksh200 and your account should have Ksh500; by Week 52 you will be saving Ksh2,600 and your savings will be Ksh68,900 .
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With the way most of your actual bank balances are set up, especially in January, this savings challenge will be powerful for you. You can choose from several savings plans available and arrange your plan in any way you want. You can start with Ksh100 building up or reverse it and start with Ksh2,600. The good thing with reversing the plan is that saving becomes easier because the target amount to save decreases with each week.
Now that the savings plan is clear, how do you actually succeed in this challenge and not give up by Week 9? The most important thing is where you save your money. You have to make your money hard-to-get, because hard-to-get money does not get spent. You can open a savings account that limits withdrawals to once every quarter; have counter-only withdrawals with several convenient options to deposit money.
That condition will stop impulse spending because you won’t have convenient access to your money. Also, in case you need to withdraw the money, you will weigh options and withdraw only when there is a dire need. Having the savings challenge as a priority by setting calendar reminders will also help with easing you into the habit of saving.
Interest rates paid for depositing money in banks might not be much but it is still something. That interest is better than having a jar filled with money somewhere in your house earning no interest.
Now that it is established that saving money is the way forward, what is your goal for that money? Committing to the 52 Week Savings Challenge may sound like a walk in the park, but can you stick with it?