52 Weeks of Saving in 2013

If grade school taught us one thing other than to always share it was that there are 52 weeks in a calendar year. One thing it didn’t teach me was how to effectively save and budget my money, so now that I’m older I love hearing {and sharing} operative and simple ways to budget.  Most recently after my return from our holiday hiatus I spent some much needed time catching up with my office go to gal {yay Verna!} who got me up to speed on a little 52 week savings plan she had put to order for the new year! After some chatting and a little web surfing as on the how to of putting this plan into action, I found it actually quite simple and kind of fun if you ask me. While we are not sure who the original author or creator of this little plan is I have noticed around the web peeps referring to it as the 52 Week Money Challenge. I like to think of it as 52 weeks to my 2014 Oh S#*% Account. The simplicity behind this plan is such; for 52 weeks beginning with week one you put money away each week. The weekly dollar amount directly corresponds to number of the week it is. For example, week one you put away $1, week two you put away $2 and so on with the maximum amount you will be putting away in a single week is $52! Check it out below!

So if you take a look at the Account Balance that corresponds to week 52 (bottom right corner above), assuming you stick by the plan come December of this year you will have $1,378.00. I'm not suggesting that this be the only savings you do throughout the year, but this is a fun and simple way to have a little cushion after the holidays going into 2014! Whether you plan on saving each week just for yourself or you decide to put away for you and your children, grandchildren, significant other, brother, sister etc. who wouldn't want $1,378.00 extra?! Get creative with this, save in jar, save in a safe, only make a bank deposit every time your balance hits $100.00 execute this savings plan in a way that works for you. Maybe even use it as a learning tool for your kids and get them started early teaching them saving is not only important, but fun too! Not to worry, its not too late to start, we are only coming up on week 5 so if you put away $15 today you're already caught up! Happy Saving!