52-Week Money Challenge: What It Is And How To Get Started

Saving money is an important part of your financial health, especially when it comes to being able to pay for emergencies or achieve savings goals. Of course, figuring out how to find money to save can be challenging, which is why the 52-week money challenge could be a great idea. The point is to save smaller amounts throughout the year as you work toward your financial goals.

What Is The 52-Week Money Challenge?

The 52-week money challenge is meant to be a fun and low-stakes method to help you start or boost your savings. The idea is to begin by saving a small amount of money, increasing the amount saved each week until the end of 52 weeks. One of the most popular ways is to start by saving $1 in the first week, and increasing the savings amount by $1 each subsequent week. 

This challenge can help you save money because the amount is meant to be small and manageable. It can be added to your usual budgeting techniques at any time, though many usually start at the beginning of the calendar year.

How Does The 52-Week Money-Saving Challenge Work?

The 52-week money challenge is a savings method where you increase the amount you save by $1 every week for a year. So, you’ll deposit $1 into your savings account during Week One, $2 during Week Two, and so on, until you reach Week 52 and deposit $52. Your total savings over the 52 weeks should total to $1,378.

The point of this savings challenge is to give you an opportunity to make saving a habit in a way that doesn't feel too restrictive. Here’s a look at weekly deposits and total savings you could have after the challenge:

How To Stay On Track With The 52-Week Savings Challenge

There are different ways to stay on course with the 52-week money savings challenge. Here are several guidelines to help set you up for success.

Determine Your Savings Goal

It’s important to establish savings goals with the 52-week challenge, whether it’s to save $1,378 by 52 weeks or to achieve another savings amount. Having a goal will encourage you to follow through with the weekly savings challenge.

For instance, are you looking to save the money for a family trip? Or do you want to add more to your emergency fund? Whatever it is, note it. It might also be helpful to have a visual reminder to remind you why you’re doing the money saving challenge in the first place.

At Rocket Money^SM, we’ve helped consumers participate in America Saves, a campaign led by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America organization. Rocket Money helped consumers establish a savings goal of $15 million and initiate over $569,000 in new and existing savings transfers during a challenge in February 2022.

Want to join the challenge for 2023? Make sure to sign up for Rocket Money and stay tuned for America Saves Week at the end of February 2023!

Continue To Budget

Embarking on a savings goal is only one part of the equation. It’s important to continue to refine your budget to ensure you’re in good financial shape. Cutting out unnecessary expenses or finding other ways to earn additional income can be a good idea while you’re completing the 52-week challenge so you can use that money toward savings. You can also use Rocket Money’s Smart Savings feature to automatically transfer savings based on your spending habits to make sure you’re keeping up with your goal.

Adjust To Meet Your Needs

You can customize the 52-week money challenge to suit your needs.

For example, you can do any of the following:

●      Start saving with the lowest to the highest amount, where you save $1 in the first week and increase the dollar amount you deposit in subsequent weeks.

●      Start saving with the highest to lowest amount, where you save $52 in Week One and decrease the amount by $1 every week thereafter.

●      Instead of increasing or decreasing the amount as you can, commit to a specific number to save once a week and set up an automatic transfer for that amount.

●      Give yourself some grace if needed. Skip the challenge for a few weeks and have a plan in place to ensure you reach your savings goal.

Benefits Of The 52-Week Money Challenge

Saving over $1,000 or more in a year is possible, and is one clear benefit to completing the 52-week money challenge. You’ll also be able to reap more long-term benefits, such as:

●      Helping you practice budgeting: Working on this money savings challenge will offer you the opportunity to manage your expenses each week to help you meet your goals. This lifelong skill also shows you the importance of saving and to look towards more long-term goals like making a down payment on a future home.

●      Holding you accountable for saving: Having a set target to hit each week can provide some level of accountability to your savings goals. You can make the challenge more fun by enlisting others to join you.

●      Customizing savings goals to suit your needs: One of the best aspects of this savings challenge is that you can modify it to how to best suit your financial needs. You can consider increasing the amount you save, take a break on some weeks, or set up autopay so you don't have to worry about forgetting to transfer funds.

The Bottom Line

The 52-week money challenge, where you set a savings goal to complete each week for a year, can be a great start to kickstart your financial health – it might feel nice to see the sizable amount you've saved at the end of the year.

Use this momentum to continue to build responsible habits such as learning more effective budgeting skills or how you can pay down your debt faster. Take advantage of tools, such as the Rocket Money app, to help you save automatically, budget and cancel unwanted subscriptions to increase your savings goal for the year.