The 6 Best Money-Saving Challenges For 2023

Most people would agree that saving money is crucial to long-term financial success. But it’s easier said than done. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in May 2023, Americans saved only 4.6% of their disposable income. This statistic may seem bleak, but with intention and discipline, you have the power to save more.

While saving money isn’t always as fun as spending it, there are fun ways you can challenge yourself to save more. Here are six money challenges for 2023 that you can try out!

6 Money Challenges To Try In 2023

Maybe at the beginning of the year you made it a goal to save more money, but it hasn’t quite worked out—yet. There’s a common saying that “a goal without a plan is just a wish” — and this also applies to saving money. It’s crucial to have a concrete plan of action if you want to save money successfully.

Consider these six methods that you can use to save money in 2023.

1. No-Spend Challenge

Starting off quite drastically, the no-spend challenge is exactly what it sounds like: you challenge yourself to spend absolutely no money on anything that’s non-essential.

This means you only spend money on the basic necessities, such as rent or mortgage payments, household bills, groceries, gas and transportation costs, health care, and debt payments.

However, you’d avoid spending money on items that you can technically live without like clothes, dining out, entertainment, shopping, and more.

The following tips might make it easier for you to complete the no-spend challenge:

• Download a no-spend challenge tracker.
• Use gift cards
• Remove banking information from your phone
• Establish a reward if you complete the no-spend challenge successfully
• Find someone to hold you accountable
• Explore free entertainment options

2. 52-Week Savings Challenge

A 52-week savings challenge is the perfect way to get started on the path to healthy saving habits. This plan tests your ability to set aside a certain amount of money weekly and increase that amount by a dollar each week.

According to this plan, for the first week of the year, you’ll set aside $1. In the second week, you’ll increase your contribution to $2. The third week, you’ll save $3, so on and so forth. If you increase your contribution by a dollar each week, all the way up to $52 at week 52, you’ll accumulate $1,378 by the end.

While it would be ideal to start this challenge during the first week of the year, the 52-week savings challenge provides a simple framework for saving that helps you conserve a significant amount of money in just one year's time — no matter when you start. Before you get started, remember these confidence-boosting tips:

• Set a savings goal: Figuring out why you’re saving is just as important as knowing how much you want to save. Whether it’s saving for a vacation or your emergency fund, saving with a purpose can give you the motivation you need to follow through. It might even help to write your goal down and put it somewhere you’ll see it often.
• Don’t stop budgeting: Putting money aside is a great way to improve your financial health. But it’s only one small fraction of a much larger equation. You must also continue to budget what you’re spending. Why not take an honest look at your spending habits and cut out unnecessary expenses? You could also consider finding additional ways to earn income.
• Adjust the challenge based on your financial needs: As mentioned, the 52-week savings challenge is a framework for saving money. In other words, it’s just a guideline that you can adjust to fit into your life. For example, instead of starting with $1 during Week One (the lowest amount), you could save $52 (the highest amount) and decrease the amount each week. Or you could just commit to saving a specific amount each week without increasing or decreasing it. Whatever you can sustain over the course of a year is best!

3. 26-Week Biweekly Savings Challenge

Much like the 52-week challenge, the 26-week biweekly money-saving challenge goes by weeks. But, instead of saving each week, you’ll be putting aside money every 2 weeks — with the amount increasing every two weeks for a span of 26 weeks. This could be a great option if you get paid on a biweekly basis.

Let’s consider an example of how the 26-week biweekly savings challenge works. Say, for example, you decide to save $5 from your biweekly paycheck. The first week you’d save $5. Then, next pay period you’d increase that amount to $10, then $15, and so forth. If you stick with this savings method, at the end of the year you will have saved a total of $1,755. Of course, you can choose to set aside less or more as it fits into your budget.

If you’re looking for ways to automate your savings, you can use the autopilot savings feature on Rocket Money^SM. You can determine your savings cadence, specify a goal, and watch your money grow!

4. Spare Change Savings Method

Whoever came up with the saying “a penny saved is a penny earned” would definitely love the spare change savings method! We often overlook the impact of nickels and dimes. But you’d be surprised by how much saving small coins can add up to create big improvements in your financial health.

The spare change savings method is simple: when you get your hands on some spare change, instead of pocketing it — save it! Whether in a childhood piggy bank or a random jar, you can let the quarters, nickels, dimes (and yes, even pennies) accumulate into substantial savings.

The best part about this method is that it can feel a lot more doable than saving larger amounts of cash. To ensure your success, implement these tips:

• Keep an eye out for spare change: You can acquire spare change in a number of ways — change back on cash purchases, the crevices of your car, couch cushions, and unwanted pennies and nickels that others let stay on the ground. Whenever you get your hands on some change, you can save it.
• Pick a safe spot for your change (and leave it there): It doesn’t really matter what you choose to save spare change in, but be sure to choose a safe spot for it. You’ll want to keep the change somewhere that you can access without it being too easily accessible — otherwise you may be tempted to use it.
• Maximize your spare change savings: Once your savings jar is filled to the brim with cents, it only makes sense to maximize those savings. You might consider depositing it into a high-yield savings account, which allows you to earn higher interest on the money you save.

5. Round-Up Savings Method

Now more than ever before, people are using less cash. With all the digital ways to bank, send, and save money, you might find there’s less spare change lying around. For this reason, the round-up savings challenge is said to be an alternative to the spare change savings method.

The round-up savings method takes remaining change from your debit card transactions, rounding up to the nearest dollar and saving the spare change. Your banking may have this feature available. But if not, you could look into using a legitimate third-party app.

Similar to the spare change method, the round-up method is neat because it doesn’t require much thought or effort. You’ll already be making purchases; the only difference is you would be rounding up and depositing the difference into a savings account.

6. No Dining Out Savings Challenge

Maybe you like the idea behind the no-spend challenge, but don’t think it that practical for your unique circumstances. The good news is that while it may not be possible for you to eliminate your non-essential spending, you can find ways to reduce it.

The no dining out savings challenge focuses on saving money by not dining out. There's nothing wrong with the occasional takeout treat. But frequent trips to restaurants and coffee shops can really add up over time.

You can save significantly by eating at home — not to mention the added benefit of eating more nutritious, home-cooked meals. Cooking at home also creates more opportunities to sharpen your cooking skills, discover new recipes, and even bond with your family.

We know it can be hard to not eat out, so we’ve come up with a few helpful hacks.

• Coupon and budget for groceries: With rising grocery prices, some argue that cooking at home is just as expensive (if not more expensive) than eating out. Not ignoring this reality, couponing and budgeting for groceries can help you save money on your shopping trips.
• Plan out and prep your meals: It also takes time and effort to cook at home more. After a long day, it can be exhausting having to figure out what to cook, then to prepare a meal and clean up the mess. A practical solution for this problem could be to plan out what meals you’ll have in advance and cook them in bulk; this can save you time and money, while also still being healthy and delicious.
• Treat yourself occasionally: Let’s face it. While home cooked meals can be delicious, sometimes we’re just craving our favorite local spot — and that’s perfectly okay. Limiting your dining out to save money doesn’t mean you can never indulge. Why not choose one day out of the week or a few days out of the month to dine out? It can even serve as a delicious reward for doing well on the challenge.

The Bottom Line: Challenge Yourself To Save More Money In 2023

While everyone has unique financial goals and challenges, it’s safe to say we all want to save more money. Even if this year didn’t start off the best savings wise, it’s still possible to turn things around and start to build good saving habits. By trying out the six challenges we discussed in this article, you may be well on your way to improved financial health.

Download the Rocket Money mobile app today. With its ability to effortlessly track your spending, net worth, and lower your bills, you can save money in 2023 and beyond!