The 52 week savings challenge is about to begin! Join me won’t you?

Is there something you want to buy at the end of 2015?  A Hawaiian vacation perhaps?

This photo of Hawaii is courtesy of TripAdvisor

How about a new sewing machine (me, me, me!)?

Or do you just want to kick-start your retirement savings already?  

Why not do it the “52 week savings challenge” way?

This is something that’s been making the rounds on social and news media and you can even find printouts of little charts (or savings schedules) that you can tape to a piggy-bank or jam jar – any place you want to stash your $$’s.

It works like this.  Week 1 – put in $1.  Week 2 – put in $2.  Week 3 – put in $3… and so on.  At the end of 52 weeks and with an increasing weekly savings schedule, for instance week 52 you add in $52, you’ll have saved a total of $1,378.  Not too shabby.

But hey, what if during the last month of the year it’s just too hard to save up to $50 a week?  Hmmm…. That could be difficult what with Christmas and everything.

Why not try doing the same thing, but backwards?  Basically, with a decreasing cash outflow amount?  We could start off with $52 at week 1.  Put in $51 for week 2, and so on and so forth – DECREASING our weekly savings amount as we go.  In December we would only have to cough up $14 for the piggy-bank. At the end of our year, we’ll still have saved $1,378.  Hey I like that!!

But wait a minute!  I’m a little OCD.  I don’t like uneven things.  Get me?  Not many people do…  There’s a solution for this.  If I just put in $26.50 every week, rain or shine, January through December like clock-work, then I’ll have saved the same amount: $1,378. 

Whoa!  Even cash savings amounts. 

I can automate that. 

I can just set up a weekly auto transfer from my checking account to a savings account such as this CapitalOne 360 savings account.  I won’t even have to think about it!  I’ll earn interest AND I won’t be tempted to spend it.

I think this is going to work for me, most definitely!

But wait, I’m really thinking now. . . 

What if I did this every year until retirement?  Say I have 30 working years left.  What if at the end of every year I put my money into a retirement or other investment account?  What would my balance look like then?  Can I figure that out say if I earned 5%, 7%, or 10% over the course of 30 years?  Of course I can!

Hmmm....now that’s not bad for just a measly $26.50 a week. That's about the price of two lunches.

So, are you in?

I’ve even provided a little Excel Spreadsheet that outlines a schedule for increasing saving outflows, decreasing saving outflows, or even saving outflows.  You can even play around with the numbers to see what this chart will look like if you save different weekly amounts for 2 years, 10 years, 35 years or more.

I CAN get that sewing machine. Huzzah!

Janet J.