Stop just thinking about saving money, and try Savings Challenges that help you “harvest” money from your everyday spending habits.
Have you figured out how powerful Savings Challenges are when trying to save money…or is this your first time stumbling across them?
Either way, you’re in the right place.
Because the right savings challenge can take you from the nagging thought cycle of “I really should be saving more…” to actually moving money into your savings account – consistently.
We’ll start off with my favorite category of Savings Challenges – ones where you can find the money within your current spending budget.
Savings Challenges that “Harvest” Your Money
There are ways to grow your savings by “harvesting” the money from your spending.
Like when you use a digital coupon for $1.00 off, you would then “harvest” that money to put into your savings.
Check out these Savings Challenges for some cool ideas.
1. The Cash Back Harvest Savings Challenge
Do you have your online shopping set up so that you earn cash back from sites like Rakuten, Capital One Shopping, etc.?
Well, you should!
Just look at my earnings right now:
Take a moment to get all of that set up, and then each time you earn cashback from your normal online shopping, cash out (sometimes you need to reach a minimum) and send that money straight to your Savings Space.
2. The Subscription Harvest Savings Challenge
Choose ONE subscription to nix. Look at the price that you pay each month.
That is the exact amount you are to set up as an automatic monthly withdrawal straight to your savings account now.
Simple, and effective.
3. The Bank It! Harvest Savings Challenge
I came up with this savings challenge several years ago, which is definitely a way to harvest money you were going to spend anyway and put it into your savings.
It was after I realized that the “savings” stores tell you that you have at the bottom of receipts? Aren’t real savings in the sense of the word.
I mean, when you go to CVS and see that you saved $15.36 at the bottom of the receipt…are you actually $15.36 richer? Nope. Not unless you “Bank It”.
In this Bank It! game, for every receipt you get where you have savings at the bottom of it – through manufacturer coupons, store coupons, store sales, etc. – you have to Bank It.
Meaning, that you actually put that amount from your checking account into your savings account.
So, in this example, I would put $0.63 into my savings jar or account (…I might just round that up to $1.00):
4. The Digital Coupon Harvest Savings Challenge
What stores do you shop at weekly?
Download their apps (if you haven’t already), and get NINJA about using their digital coupons.
Each digital coupon that you use is really a Savings Digital Coupon now.
Add up the total used, and that’s the amount you must physically move into your Savings Space (your savings jar, savings account, etc.).
Harvest that money!!
5. The Downsize Harvest Savings Challenge
At some point in my time with Starbucks, I started ordering a Grande Iced Soy Chai instead of a Tall Iced Soy Chai.
That’s a definite example of lifestyle inflation!
The difference in price between the two is $0.60.
Choose one item, order, or subscription level in your life to downsize, figure out the difference in price with what you’ll be paying now, and set that money aside in savings for each time you buy it.
Over a month, 6 months, and 1 year, that can really add up.
Dollar Savings Challenges for Low Incomes
Money tight? Then these 1-dollar savings challenges are perfect for you – you can afford to do them, AND, doing something (rather than nothing) will help future you loosen up the money reins a bit.
My favorite dollar Savings Challenge? Is the $1 Weather Prediction Savings Challenge. It’s fun.
And darn it, finances should be more fun!
1. $1 Weather Prediction Savings Challenge
Each day, you predict whether it’s going to be sunny or rainy. Your new rule is that each time the weather delivers your choice (rainy/sunny), you save $1 into your Savings Space.
Use this free money-saving printable to keep track of when the weather turns your way by coloring in the symbol you chose.
2. The $1 No Fast Food Savings Challenge
Grab a jar, and label it “No Fast Food Savings Jar”.
Each time you really want to get fast food, or you would normally get fast food, but cook or source food from home instead?
Put $1.00 inside.
Double winner – you spend way less for the meal than you would’ve had you sat in the drive-thru lane, AND, you build up your savings ever so slightly.
3. The Quarter Multiplier Savings Challenge
Quarters add up! Especially if you keep at it for months and years at a time (see the Coke Bottle Savings Challenge below for more on this).
Let’s make them even more valuable.
Decide that for XX days/months/year, every single quarter that comes into your life, you’re going to multiply by 4 ($0.25*4) and send $1.00 from your checking account into your savings account.
For example, I’m looking in my wallet right now as I write this, and there are 4 quarters. $1.00 * 4 = $4.00. So, I need to send $4.00 into my savings.
Hint: you can save the quarters themselves, too, and cash them in at the end of your Savings Challenge for a savings boost.
Ones you find in couch cushions and on the way to the Metro, count!
Find tons more dollar savings challenges here.
Fun Cash Savings Challenges to Try
Looking for some fun ways to challenge yourself and save more money? Check these out.
1. 52-Card Pickup Weekly Savings Challenge
Ready to use a deck of cards to boost your savings over the next 52 weeks?
I'm soooo excited to unveil my new twist on the 52-week savings challenge trend: the 52-Card Pickup Weekly Savings Challenge!
Grab your free printables below, and a deck of cards.
You’re in control of how much you save over the next 52 weeks by simply giving a monetary value to each type of card in the deck. As you save that amount of money, you cross it off of the handy-dandy checklist. After 52 weeks? You will have reached your savings goal!
2. 90-Day Diamond Savings Challenge
Here’s a free printable with 90 diamonds on it (just click the picture of it). Each day, for the next 90 days, stash either $1, $5, or $20 into your Savings Space.
At the end of the 90 days, you’ll have saved $1,000!
3. The Giant Coke Bottle Savings Challenge
My entire childhood, I remember this giant-sized, clear Coke bottle bank in my grandparents’ dining room.
They put ALL of their change into it (I wish I had a picture of it!).
Every few years, they cashed it in. I remember they typically brought in $800 of “found” money that way!
Hint: This works especially well if you mainly use cash budgeting, fyi. But I probably didn’t have to tell you that.
Get your giant-sized Coke bottle here, and get started. How many months or years will it take for YOU and your family to finish this savings challenge (and what will you use all that money for)?
Remember that when it comes to managing your money and saving more of it, keeping things interesting is half the battle! Whether mini Savings Challenges based around $1 are all you and your money can handle right now, or you’re just looking for some fun ways to change your savings habits, picking one of these challenges and DOING it is going to make a big difference for you. Take action, my friend.
Amanda L. Grossman is a writer and Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI®), Plutus Foundation Grant Recipient, and founder of Frugal Confessions. Over the last 17 years, her money work has helped people with how to save money and how to manage money.
She's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, LifeHacker, Real Simple Magazine, Woman's World, Woman's Day, ABC 13 Houston, Keybank, and more. Read more here or on LinkedIn.
