52-Week Money Challenge Details And Tips Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images December 15, 2021 Kendall Little is a personal finance writer who previously covered credit card news and advice at Bankrate. Kendall currently is a . She is originally from metro Atlanta and holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Georgia in both journalism and film studies. Before joining Bankrate in August 2018, Kendall worked in digital communications throughout various industries, including education, health care and television. Brian Beers is the managing editor for the Wealth team at Bankrate. He oversees editorial coverage of banking, investing, the economy and all things money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our banking reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the best banks, latest rates, different types of accounts, money-saving tips and more — so you can feel confident as you’re managing your money. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Here is a list of our . Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. For anyone trying to save more money in 2022, the 52-week money challenge is a simple and effective way to stay on track. And at the end of the year, you’ll have $1,378 extra dollars to or put toward a savings goal. What is the 52-week money challenge
Using the 52-week money challenge, you should deposit an increasing amount of money each week for one year. Match each week’s savings amount with the number of the week in your challenge. In other words, you’ll save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week, and so on until you put away $52 in week 52. You can also get creative with the amount you save each week if you’d like to save more over the year or you don’t have enough extra cash available for the regular challenge. If you stick to this challenge throughout the entire year, you’ll save a total of $1,378. Week number Weekly deposit Total savings Week 1 $1 $1 Week 2 $2 $3 Week 3 $3 $6 Week 4 $4 $10 Week 5 $5 $15 Week 6 $6 $21 Week 7 $7 $28 Week 8 $8 $36 Week 9 $9 $45 Week 10 $10 $55 Week 11 $11 $66 Week 12 $12 $78 Week 13 $13 $91 Week 14 $14 $105 Week 15 $15 $120 Week 16 $16 $136 Week 17 $17 $153 Week 18 $18 $171 Week 19 $19 $190 Week 20 $20 $210 Week 21 $21 $231 Week 22 $22 $253 Week 23 $23 $276 Week 24 $24 $300 Week 25 $25 $325 Week 26 $26 $351 Week 27 $27 $378 Week 28 $28 $406 Week 29 $29 $435 Week 30 $30 $465 Week 31 $31 $496 Week 32 $32 $528 Week 33 $33 $561 Week 34 $34 $595 Week 35 $35 $630 Week 36 $36 $666 Week 37 $37 $703 Week 38 $38 $741 Week 39 $39 $780 Week 40 $40 $820 Week 41 $41 $861 Week 42 $42 $903 Week 43 $43 $946 Week 44 $44 $990 Week 45 $45 $1,035 Week 46 $46 $1,081 Week 47 $47 $1,128 Week 48 $48 $1,176 Week 49 $49 $1,225 Week 50 $50 $1,275 Week 51 $51 $1,326 Week 52 $52 $1,378 How to get started
First thing’s first, you’ll need somewhere to store your savings. A simple piggy bank may work for you, but not everyone has cash on hand to deposit each week. Plus, having your savings in such an accessible place may tempt you to dip into it before the end of the challenge. Consider opening a and transferring your challenge money into it each week instead. In addition to curbing any impulse spending, a can help you accumulate a bit more over the course of the year through interest earnings. If you really want to make things easy, set up your bank to automatically route money into your new savings account. If you never see it, you won’t have the chance to miss the cash before it goes into savings. Adjust the challenge to fit your needs
One way to improve your chances of sticking to the challenge for the full 52-week period is to personalize the process to suit your needs. The details don’t matter as much as actually succeeding in accumulating your savings by the year’s end. Saving money in increasing increments over the course of a calendar year can be difficult, mostly because your spending likely increases in December. If you’re worried about your savings falling off during the holidays, try flipping your money challenge. So, instead, you put away $52 the first week, $51 the second and so on until you owe just $1 the last week of December. Perhaps you’re or a . Use those extra sums to get a head start on the tougher weeks or catch up if you’ve fallen behind. Instead of keeping up with changing deposits, you may want to simply save the same amount every week until you reach your year-end goal. This is helpful if you want to go the automated route, as you’ll be able to direct the same amount each week or pay cycle. If you transfer $26.50 into your savings every week, you’ll accumulate the same $1,378 as the regular challenge. Maybe you have more ambitious goals. Double up on the challenge by saving $2 in week one, $4 in week two and $6 for week three until you save $104 in week 52 for a total of $2,756. There are countless versions of the challenge that you can find templates for online, but don’t be afraid to put your own spin on things. The best method is whatever helps you reach your goal by the end of the year. How to stay on track
Set reminders and benchmarks for yourself to make sure you don’t quit midway through your challenge. Have an end goal in mind before you begin saving, whether that’s a , your , a vacation budget or some other goal. Having something to work toward will help you stay motivated throughout the year. To help yourself stay on track, keep a regular reminder on the calendar. Weekly notifications can ensure the challenge stays top of mind. If you need extra help staying motivated, set smaller benchmarks for yourself throughout the year. For instance, for every 13 weeks that you successfully save (four times throughout the year) reward yourself for keeping pace. Plus, like any New Year’s resolution, having someone keeping you accountable can be a great motivator for success. Ask your friends or family to take the challenge with you and check in with each other monthly to ensure you’re keeping up with your deposits. And after you hit your savings goal in full at the end of the 52 weeks, don’t stop your momentum. You’ve already accomplished the most difficult part — getting started. Start over with another 52-week money challenge or challenge yourself to a new goal for next year. Learn more
SHARE: Kendall Little is a personal finance writer who previously covered credit card news and advice at Bankrate. Kendall currently is a . She is originally from metro Atlanta and holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Georgia in both journalism and film studies. Before joining Bankrate in August 2018, Kendall worked in digital communications throughout various industries, including education, health care and television. Brian Beers is the managing editor for the Wealth team at Bankrate. He oversees editorial coverage of banking, investing, the economy and all things money. Related Articles