We’re forever hearing from our friends about the various challenges they are carrying out – often focused on getting fit, or eating better.

So, we wondered, what about money saving challenges? Anyone doing those?

Laura Beck, writing for Go Banking Rates recently reported on the 52-Week Savings Challenge. In this challenge, you save $1 in week one, increase it to $2 in week two, $3 in week three, and so on.

The woman who carried out the challenge, identified as Amelia K., thought it sounded easy, asking “how hard could it be?”

“The 52-week challenge appealed to her because it started small. A dollar in week one felt manageable, and the gradual increase seemed less intimidating than trying to save a large lump sum all at once,” the article reports.

She started in January, and by the end of March, “she’d saved $378 and was feeling confident about completing the full challenge.” By May, however, the savings amounts were larger, like $20. “Twenty dollars a week doesn’t sound like much until you realize it’s almost $80 per month on top of everything else you’re trying to save,” she states in the article.

By the end of the year, it was “brutal,” she says, saving $40 to $50 a week in the run-up to Christmas. “I finished the challenge, but I also ended December with more credit card debt than I started the year with,” she admitted. “I was basically borrowing money to fund my savings account,” she says. But she did manage to save $1,378.

OK, maybe there are other approaches out there – let’s look.

The Inspired Budget blog suggests a similar daily challenge – the 365 Day Nickel Saving Challenge.

“This challenge is for anyone that feels overwhelmed making weekly or bi-weekly deposits – and you end up saving even more money with it,” the blog tells us.

It’s a simple as it sounds. On day 1, save a nickel, and deposit it into savings. On day two, two nickels. On day 3, three nickels, and at the end of 365 days, $1,840.

“When you look at the numbers, they seem so doable,” the blog enthuses. Plus, the blog adds, “the best thing is that when you add it all up, the total you put into savings will be $3,300.”

The Experian website discusses the Round Up Challenge.

“Anytime you make a purchase, round up to the nearest dollar and pocket the change. For instance, if you spend $28.57 at the store, the difference is 43 cents,” the site explains.

“Keep a tally of your change throughout the day or week and then transfer that money over to savings, if you’re using cards for payment. If you’re paying in cash, stash the change away in a change jar,” the article suggests.

The Wealthy Woman Finance blog provides our final example, which reminds us a bit of the approaches used by noted Canadian saving expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade.

The blog calls it a Cash Only Week Challenge. Huh?

“Take out your budget in bills for the week,” the blog instructs. “Separate it into cash envelope categories.” Categories listed on the blog include Eating Out, Groceries, Outings, Gas and Personal Care – you would, of course, be able to set your own categories.

Spend the cash from each envelope for expenses in each category. “Once you spend it, the money’s all gone. You’ll learn a lot about your spending habits and how you can save in the future.”

We’ll add in one more, the Uncle Joe Challenge. The late Uncle Joe always told us that if we saved 10 per cent off the top of everything we earned, we’d do great even if we spent the other 90 per cent. This is challenging to do if you are paying a mortgage or high rent – so start by banking one per cent each month. Increase it to two per cent when you can, and go on from there.

If there is a theme amongst these challenges, it may be the systemic, automated method behind them – making savings almost automatic.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan can let members automate their savings. You tell us how much you want to save, as well as the account you want it to come from, and we’ll take it from there. Alternatively, you can set SPP up as a “bill” to pay on payday, you can send us cheques, and more.

Once your savings dollars are in your SPP account, they will be professionally invested in a low-cost, pooled fund with a successful track record. At retirement, your future you can decide among such options as a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!