If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that I challenged myself to keep up with the 52-Week Money Saving Challenge, and I’m about to finish up the third quarter. I’m happy to report that I’ve faithfully contributed my weekly requirements, and I’m set to finish up the year on schedule! My past history with saving was pretty rocky, and this was the perfect way to set myself up on the right track. I’ve learned so much more about planning to save!
The money I save as part of the Challenge isn’t part of my standard savings – I still continue to save about 20% of my monthly income for my emergency fund and other budget allocations (things such as car maintenance, hair cuts, clothing, “going out” money, etc.) in addition to my weekly contributions. When I started, I hadn’t decided what I would be using this extra money for. Since a house seemed to be in our relatively near future, I thought it might be a good idea to set this up as a separate fund for things we might need for that. It has proved to be very beneficial for that reason! While my initial intention was to continue saving without spending for the entire 52 weeks, we came across an amazing deal on a washer and dryer set that we just couldn’t pass up, and luckily, I had just enough set aside in my account. Since I had decided on dedicating these funds to homeowner needs, I deemed it a justified purchase, and we’re very happy with our decision. I re-set the starting balance to 0 and continued right on track the following week.
While the finish line is in sight and I feel the Challenge has been successful overall, I worry I may have hit a wall. The weekly contributions are getting larger and larger, and the amounts needed in the coming weeks might not fit into my budget anymore. My main savings account is most important, so I’d prefer not to take away from that in order to save money elsewhere. Although I might still be saving, those funds are allocated for specific things, while the Challenge money is more discretionary. I don’t want to throw in the towel just yet, so I’ve been thinking of other options to help me continue on. Starting over from the beginning would require less money every week, but my account would grow a lot slower than it has been (because if you remember, you start Week 1 with $1). The weeks where I contributed somewhere between $10 – $25 seemed to work well for me. However, I’m not sure if I want to take a few steps back in order to move ahead, or if it might be better to add a consistent, comfortable amount every week instead. I think either option could work well (I’m still winning because I’m still saving something!) but I need to figure out which option would maximize my results while remaining within my means. I’ll have some decisions to make in the new year, so stay tuned to find out what happens!
If you were me, how would you go forward? What changes would you make?
