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Do you often find yourself wondering how all the big plans to save went up in smoke at the end of the month? Perhaps you’ve tried one of the many different variations of the money rule, be it the 70-20-10 or the 50-30-20 rule where you put the largest proportion of your money towards needs, followed by wants and then savings.
These approaches are great but they can get a bit boring or worse, prescriptive. Did you then go down the I’ll-just-spend-less route (and fail)? This route hardly works because without a plan and a goal, it’s hard to hit those milestones.
If you are looking for an unconventional way to start the ball rolling, consider these challenges.
Surprise Saving Day
There are a couple of ways to do this but the principle is the same: Find an accountability partner and ask them to ping you once every week or month on a random day that it is Surprise Saving Day!
On that day, take all the money you have out of your wallet (if you still carry money around) or total the monetary value of what you have in all the carts of your e-commerce apps, and put that aside! Best to clear that cart before the next surprise text comes along!
Cancellation Challenge
Do you often find yourself backing out of commitments you know you should keep? Maybe it’s that trip to the gym you promised yourself you would go for the day before but the morning comes and you just don’t feel like going. Or maybe it’s that promise to keep to a certain budget for the day. Every time you find yourself cancelling a commitment you made with yourself, give yourself a small S$10 “fine”. This money goes into your Cancellation Challenge savings bucket.
By the way, in today’s digital age, we recommend you put your hard-earned money in a high-interest savings account rather than leaving it to languish in a jar or an envelope that many challenges advocate. But make sure you have built a moat (or at least, sufficient obstacles) around your money so you won’t be too tempted to touch it!
Money Throwdown
Part of the fun of this challenge is that it has the least amount of instructions. Simply find someone or a group of people and see who can save the most money in a week or month. Figure out the rules amongst yourselves and let the games begin!
If you enjoyed this piece, click on the “Finance Hacks” tag below to find more, well, hacks! Alternatively, browse our Money Matters section for other more inspiration.
