About 14% of people made a New Year’s resolution to “save money.” There are a lot of questions, how much money should I be saving? How often should I save? There is also no one right answer. But, with these challenges, it’s not only easy to know how much to save but also have fun while you do it.

52 Week Money Challenge

The idea is simple, you start with saving $1 the first week and then increase the amount by $1 until the end of the year. For example, in the second week of the year, you save $2, the third week you save $3. By the end of the year, you should have $1,378 in savings.

This challenge allows you to ease into savings, which is great for right after the holidays. But, if you receive a bonus or cash during the holidays, you can do the challenge in reverse. Make sure to make a list to keep up with which week you’re on.

$5 Challenge

This challenge doesn’t have a specific amount in the end, because you simply save every $5 bill you come by. When you cash your check, save those bills in an envelope and you’ll see that it adds up fast. You can set your own savings goal or leave it open-ended.

Spare Change Challenge

Get out the piggy bank because it’s time to start saving your change. Clean out your pockets, purses and couches to get started. This challenge will probably result in the least amount of savings at the end of the year, but saving our change can turn into a habit. After a year or two, you could build up some serious extra cash.

Weather Dependent Challenge

It sounds weird, but this challenge could lead to serious savings and there are a few different ways you can do it. With this challenge, you save an amount that reflects the temperature. Now, that could be saving the daily temperature, the weekly average or the monthly average. In the early months, you’ll be saving less right after the holidays but in the summer, you could be saving in the $100s of dollars. It all depends on how you want to do it.

A new year means a fresh start, so it’s the perfect time to get back on track or start something new. Whether your resolution is to exercise more, get a new job or to start saving, we wish you luck.