Weekly Savings Plan - Year Two

Over the past week, there have been lots of visitors to a certain post from last year, A Dollar a Week Savings Plan. I found it interesting that lots of folks were looking at that post, maybe hoping to start out a new habit in the year 2013, to save some money for something-or-other.

A friend of mine (HI Angus!) posted or rather shared a photo on her timeline of a schedule of how the dollar a week savings plan only it was called the 52 Week Money Challenge.

Here is the best link that I can find to the chart. There is even a printable form for those who want it. :)

There have been some folks who are concerned that toward the end of the year, the amount to deposit would reach an amount that would be difficult to find in an already strained budget, with Christmas and New Years right around that time. You know, you could technically start at either end of the list. Week 1 you could deposit $52 instead of just $1.

Then the wheels and gears in my head started spinning. For some folks, that's really not enough of a challenge. I started thinking about my Sealed Pot Challenge. What if I could combine the two, in a fun sort of way for me?

Then I came up with the random idea. Why not take the weekly deposit amounts and make the order random? I popped over to Random.org and listed the week numbers 1 through 52. I hit the Randomize button, and there I had a random weekly list of deposit amounts. My deposit amount list looks like this:

Week 1: $26
Week 2: $3
Week 3: $4
Week 4: $52

(To see the entire years deposit amounts, check out my page "52 Weeks Savings Challenge".)

I look at what week number I am on and put that dollar amount into my Sealed Pot. This will ensure that there will be enough money to take Hubby on a very nice getaway for just the two of us. At the end of the year, I know that there will be at least $1378 in the pot, plus whatever random change and bills I can add.

Some weeks will not be a challenge at all. In Week #51 I will only need to add $1. But Week #4 may be a bit of a challenge, as I will have to 'find' $52 to deposit, most likely by reducing spending that week, or if a reimbursement cheque or something similar comes in.

I have, have, have to make sure there is enough money to go away on vacation next winter. I have been promising this way to long, and have not done it. It truly isn't a need, but now that our consumer debt is gone, it will be a wonderful way to celebrate our new way of life with our money.

 

Have any of you taken on any kind of challenge like the 52 Week Savings/Money Challenge? What were the end results like? I'm interested in hearing your experiences.