52 Week Money Challenge

I have a hard time keeping resolutions but this year, I was able to keep TWO!!  All year!!  I even surprised myself.  The first was my blog.  I said that I would write every day for one year and I am less than a week from meeting that goal!!

The second was one that I kept a secret until Christmas.  At the beginning of the year, I read about something called, “The 52 Week Money Challenge.”  It seemed rather simple, put away a dollar the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third and so on and so on until this week, the 52nd, which was $52.  SEEMED simple I say again because in the beginning it really was.  Then, came the summer.  My school pays its teachers on a 10 month cycle.  We don’t get paid in the summer and although I work during the summer, the salary is nowhere near what I make teaching.  Those weeks, (around 30 weeks into the year,) were tough to save.  With only one salary coming in, and trying to keep it a secret from the rest of the family, it was difficult.  I fell behind a few times and would catch up when I could.  This month was tough too, because by the last week of December, I had to put away $200 just in this month alone.

I did it though!  At the end of the challenge, there is over $1,300 saved up!  I wrapped it all up in a fancy box and put it under the tree with a note inside that said, “SPRING BREAK.”  We have not been able to take a trip in awhile and this will be able to cover a big chunk of it!  Dave and the boys opened it up and were totally impressed – not just that I did it but that I kept it a secret the whole time.  Now we are trying to decide where to go.  My dad has a time share in Hilton Head, that is a possibility but we have been there a few times and might try something new.  We’d love to visit our cousins in Nevada, or maybe go to Boston where we’ve never been before.  I guess there are a lot of possibilities.  It is not a ton of money, but enough that gives us an opportunity to do something.  Now the fun part starts as we try to choose where!

We are coming up with our new money challenge for next year.  We can do the same one, and add the money to our Spring Break trip, but the first few weeks of the year don’t amount to a lot of money.  DJ suggested we do it in reverse.  That’s a possibility.  We also thought we could just put away $25 a week.  That’s another $1300 by the end of the year.  Now that I have done it once, I want it to be something we try to do from now on.  Fun money I guess we could call it.  Money that will give us a chance to do something we might not have otherwise had the chance to do.

If you are able to, I suggest you try it!  It is such a nice reward in the end!!

Tagged: 52 week money challenge, fun money, New Year's Resolution, reward yourself, saving money, spring break, where to go on vacation