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Money Saving Challenge: Save $1,000 in 10 Weeks

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Last Updated on December 5, 2022 by Daniella

Have you ever done a money saving challenge before?

I love doing money saving challenges when I’m looking to beef up my emergency fund. They’re are also great for a way to kickstart saving towards paying off debt or an upcoming goal like a trip. In the finance world, these funds for savings goals are also called sinking funds.

Regardless of what you’re saving up for, a money saving challenge can help you get there. They’re especially great for folks with ADHD or low motivation to save because it makes saving fun with gamifying the way you’re saving.

Automation is always king when saving money but when you can’t afford to automate your savings every month or week, a challenge definitely can come in handy to help push you to save in any way you can.

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The 10 Week Money Saving Challenge

I created the 10 week money saving challenge to help others easily save $1,000 in a structured, yet fun & gamified way. For this saving plan, all you have to do is save $100 a week or earn $100, week whether that’s through canceling subscriptions, negotiating lower bills, taking on a side hustle or something else.

To complete the challenge, save $100 a week for 10 weeks. That’s $1,000!

You might think that’s a stretch but once you get started, trust me you will find so many creative ways to make or save that money. This type of organization and dedication you put into these 10 weeks will help plant the seeds for future saving habits as well.

The 10 week money saving challenge will not only help you find ways to save money on a consistent basis but also get your head in the right space to push towards other financial goals.

10 Week Savings Tracker

Sign up below to get the 10 Week Money Saving Challenge Tracker that you can fill out on your smartphone or tablet, or print it out and make it fun to fill out each week as you crush your savings goals!

Sign up to get your free Money Saving Challenge Tracker printable!

Save $100 a week during the 10 week $1,000 Money Saving Challenge and set yourself up to be a money saving queen!

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This savings tracker has 5 columns:

  • Week: Number of the week.
  • Save: How much to save that week.
  • How: Did you save or earn the money you saved for that week? State if it was saved or earned and how.
  • Total: How much you’ve saved so far.
  • Done: Mark in the circle when you saved $100 for that week.

When you mark that last circle with a ‘X’ on the last week of the challenge (or whatever you want to mark it with), you’re done & $1,000 richer!

Each week when you save your $100 for that week, we encourage you to transfer that money to a high yield savings account using our recommendation. With your money in a high yield savings account, you can earn interest on your money and stretch it even farther that way.

Now, let’s get into the different ways you can actually pull off this savings challenge.

Ideas to Save $100 a Week

There are tons of ways to save money each week without completely cutting off your spending. You can do “no-spend” days but I’ve often find myself restricting myself too much that after my no-spend days are complete, I find myself wanting to make an impulse purchase as a “treat”.

But, that’s me.

However, I don’t think that way of thinking is necessarily wrong. You can still gamify your savings by treating yourself to buying things that actually bring you joy. Where you can go wrong though, is buying stuff that you couldn’t care less about. That’s where your past financial trauma might creep up and cause you to do any number of impulsive things with your money.

It’s all about value-based spending, babyy!

Ways to save $100 a week:

  • Create a budget and track your spending with Personal Capital to look for purchases that you don’t really care a lot about and that you could potentially cut from your budget.
  • Find subscriptions you don’t need or don’t want anymore and cancel them.
  • If there is something you want to buy that you don’t immediately need, wait for 48 hours and reassess if you still want to buy it.
  • Look for coupon codes online when wanting to buy something, or look for cheaper options on eBay.
  • Try a “No Spend Week“.
  • Lower your monthly bills with Trim (it’s free). Trim negotiated a savings amount of $17.40  a month on our AT&T bill.
  • Meal plan for the week ahead and prep your meals ahead of time.
  • Try to make everything you eat and drink at home.
  • Save money on pet care.
  • Unplug most of what’s plugged in at your house when you aren’t using those electronics. You’ll save energy and money.
  • Get cash back on your groceries and bonuses with Ibotta and Fetch
  • Look at meal delivery options that might help save money weekly.
  • Switch your phone service over to a cheaper service provider like Mint Mobile (and get your first 3 months free!)
  • Look for cheaper insurance providers. I switched from Progressive to Geico last year for our car insurance and that saved us $150 a month. 
  • Negotiate for work from home days at your day job to help save money on gas and other transportation costs.

If you’re able to do so, you can also set up automated savings weekly at your bank for $100 a week to transfer into your high yield savings account.

Ideas to Make an Extra $100 a Week

Side hustles are the quickest hack to make more money. However, not all side hustles are created equally and they all range in different effort requirements and potential pay ranges.

You can make extra money from working on a gig app, freelancing, getting a second job or doing odd jobs for others for money, creating something of your own like a blog or product, or starting any sort of business on the side of a day job.

Use our free side hustle quiz to find the perfect side hustle type for you.

Ideas for making an extra $100 a week:

  • Pet sit on Rover
  • Tutor online with BookNook.
  • Look for remote side hustles to do.
  • Get a part time job at a restaurant or local business in your area.
  • Ask for extra hours at work and if it is close to employee reviews, practice your negotiation skills and be prepared to ask for a raise. Use a simple script in your employee review like “I would like to discuss my base salary. According to my research, a 15% raise to the market rate of $X more accurately describes the value of my work and potential”.
  • Become an Instacart shopper.
  • Deliver food from restaurants with DoorDash and get paid in your first week.
  • Freelance as a proofreader or transcriber
  • Cut lawns or shovel snow on Shovlr.
  • Start a side business like social media management and manage small business’s social media accounts. This is perfect for a remote side hustle and you won’t have to leave your house!
  • Rent out storage space in your garage or basement on Neighbor.
  • Rent our your car on HyreCar.
  • Participate in paid research studies with Respondent.
  • Make money off of your used electronics on Gazelle and Decluttr.
  • Get paid to read books, write recipes, or freelance write.
  • Sell other used stuff on Facebook Marketplace.

Each time you make $100 from any of your side hustles in a week, transfer that money directly into your high yield savings account and complete the weekly item on the money challenge sheet.

Use a Money Mantra to Help You Out

Saving money can be pretty boring, even with a gamified savings challenge. It can get difficult to stay motivated, which is why I love mantras to help shift my money mindset towards the positive end of the spectrum.

Create a money mantra for what you want to manifest in your financial life. Your mantra can be simple or it can be more detailed. For the more detailed versions, describe the personal vision you have for your finances and how you intend to get there. Something like “I am so happy and grateful now that I am a money saving queen and I have been able to save and invest $100,000″.

As you see in that mantra we have the vision: “I have been able to save and invest $100,000” and the how: “I am a money saving ninja”. Always start off the mantra with “I am so happy and grateful now that”.

Ideas for descriptive money mantras:

  • I am so happy and grateful now that I have $5,000 saved to go to Europe this summer.
  • I am so happy and grateful now that I have saved and made enough extra money to pay off my debt this year.
  • I am so happy and grateful now that large amounts of money come to me from various sources of income that I have been able to set up.

Simpler money mantras to use:

  • I welcome money and wealth into my life.
  • I attract money with harm to no one.
  • I am a money magnet.
  • I get paid every day in multiple ways.
  • I attract creative, unique, and expansive opportunities with harm to no one.
  • I can look at my finances without fear.
  • I am not afraid to ask for a raise and negotiate my pay.
  • I can have fun as I save money towards my goals.
  • I am capable of learning how to invest and build wealth.
  • I love investing in myself.
  • I deserve to be my full true self in the working world as I earn my money.
  • My income allows me to live the life I desire.
  • I am financially free and location independent. 
  • I can generate money from wherever I am.
  • The universe is constantly sending wealth to me.
  • I control my money. My money does not control me.
  • I am rich in all areas of life.
  • Every dollar I spend comes back to me multiplied by ten.
  • I design my ideal life with every positive money decision I make.
  • I no longer live paycheck to paycheck now that I have access to an unlimited source of money.
  • My life is full of abundance.

Money mantras for folks with ADHD to help improve their money mindset:

  • I can have fun and make money at the same time.
  • I love gamifying my savings to hit financial goals.
  • My mental challenges don’t define my potential.
  • I can be organized with my money.
  • I am focused on attracting wealth that allows me to design my ideal life.
  • I can look at my finances without fear.
  • I am not afraid to ask for a raise and negotiate pay.
  • I deserve to be my full true self in the working world.

Write it down multiple times a day. Say it out load in the morning when you wake up during your morning routine, and at night when you go to bed. I love saying mine in the shower and the mirror.

Mantras help you get to your goal but not on their own. Intention and visualization paired with consistent action is what will get you there. The repetition of the mantra helps you keep that goal and positive mindset in the forefront of your mind.

What to Do With Your Money Going Forward

There are plenty of things you can do with your savings to make it work for you and your future.

You can build an emergency fund, invest or add it to an existing travel fund.

If you have debt, I urge you to apply a part of it towards that and aim for the debt with the highest interest rate. The sooner you get that paid off, the more money you’ll save. Then move on to the debt with the next lowest interest rate, and so on until all your debt is paid off. This is called the debt avalanche method and it’s how my wife and I paid off over $50k of debt in 3 years. 

Let’s talk about investing.

High yield savings accounts help you grow your savings a little but doesn’t help you build long term wealth. That’s where investing comes in. If you want your money to grow so you can ultimately live off your investments in your elder years, you need to start investing.

Use our free guide to get introduced to how to start investing.

Use this money saving challenge as many times as you want throughout the year. Modify it to your needs as well. Want to save more than $1,000 in 10 weeks, double it!

What are some savings tips you have? Maybe a saving or money success story? Share with us in the comments! And share any wins you have with this challenge and tracker printable!

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