Each time the New Year rolls around, many of us promise to save money and be prudent in our spending. Understandably, not everyone is able to follow through with this vow. Now that we’ve entered a new decade, maybe it’s time to turn things around and actually save money until the end of the year (and hopefully the years past that, too). After all, you’ll need savings for bigger purchases like a car or securing a housing loan in the Philippines What better time to start than now?
You don’t even have to save money the boring way either, because there are some challenges you could try and make you a bit richer in the long run. Here are three of them that you could try:
Envelope Challenge
If you want something simple yet creative, this saving challenge is for you. What you have to do is obtain a number of envelopes and label those with varying amounts that you could spare from your monthly income. The goal is to fill these envelopes with the stated amount, which would serve as your savings. Save money at your own pace and watch your bank account thrive.
Homebody Weekends
“Go ahead, treat yourself. You deserve it.” That’s what we tell ourselves when the weekend rolls around, after which all hell breaks loose in terms of expenses. Suddenly, pricey, fancy meals make their way to your Instagram account, online shopping carts find themselves full, and credit card charges pile up.
So, why not change that pace? Disrupt these expensive weekend routines and try to stay at home, prepare a home-cooked meal for yourself, and enjoy your rest days. Whatever amount you would have spent for a day out, put that into your savings instead. It’s not hard to estimate how much you would have spent for a movie, a meal or two, and a few things you’ll purchase.
Incremental Saving Challenges
You’ve probably seen posts about it on social media: 52-week, 12-month, or 30-day saving challenges. The gist of all these challenges is that you’ll start saving a small amount of money at the start and work your way up towards bigger amounts over time. Because of the timeframes, these challenges are not as flexible as the other two, but can certainly force you to save a large sum of money.
You just have to find a scheme that works best for your situation and mindset. The 52-week challenge is the toughest of the bunch and would require you to save significant amounts of money during its later stages. The 12-month one is slightly simpler and more flexible but still needs a year-long commitment. For the 30-day challenge, it’s much easier to manage at the expense of a lower amount saved.
CONCLUSION
With the right level of commitment and discipline, you could start and end this year with a healthy bank account—in a fun way, at that.
