In August, I challenged myself to save an extra $500. I already put money in savings from each paycheck, but I knew I could be doing more. So, I decided to make a game out of it.
How I saved $500 in one month
I created a worksheet with bags of money with a dollar amount in each (totaling $500 of course) and picked a different bag each day to save. Once that money was transferred into my savings account, I colored in the bag. Not only did I see my savings grow, I also got joy out of seeing all the bags colored in as the month went along.
My thoughts on this challenge:
- Fun to color in bags
- Sense of accomplishment each day
- By the end of the month, it was the first thing I did each day (I formed a new habit!)
- Made me more aware of spending because I knew I had to save
- I get paid bi-weekly, so it would have been easier to put money away on payday, but not as fun
- Made me think of other ways I can save money via gamification going forward
- Made me realize how lucky and grateful I am to be able to easily save $500
After the challenge ended, I did continue to put money away each day for a few days, but I quickly forgot because I wasn’t using anything (like coloring in the sheet) to keep me engaged.
More ideas to save $500 in one month:
- Round down
- Say you have $537.49 in your checking account. Round down to the nearest $1, $5, $10, etc. So you could save 40 cents, $2.49 or $7.49
- Round Out
- Round up your savings to the nearest whole number. If you currently have $104.67, transfer 23 cents to savings to even out to $105. You should have an interest bearing savings account, so each month will have cents added. Keep an eye on that and keep rounding it out!
- Save the Date
- Use the day of the month to decide how much to save. For example, February 8th = $8 saved!
That last one is my new favorite! In November, I saved each day totalling $465!
If I do this for a whole year, I’ll save $5,738… that’s a really easy way to get over 5k in your savings account!
