The 52-Week Money Challenge

This past year, I took part in something called the Fifty-Two Week Money Challenge. However, I started the challenge a few weeks late, after I got a job at TreeTop. (I didn't have money before then, to be honest. Heehee.)

Anyway, the point of this challenge is to challenge you to save a specific amount of money per week. In the beginning, it seems like an insignificant amount. "One dollar this week? Two dollars the next? This is easy." 

However, as you keep going, the dollar amount increases. Two dollars, ten dollars, forty-seven dollars. It keeps climbing. The last week, you're supposed to put $52 into the jar. (I'll be putting $43 in, because that's how many weeks I'll stop at.)

Where am I keeping of all this money? Not in a mason jar, although next year, I might do that. Now, I've got this little blue jar with butterflies on it, that one of my cats in my cat collection came in.

Do you see the weird multi-colored cat here? It's sort of tucked behind the siamese and the paw-licking kitten.  It's from some famous artist in Germany. I received it as a Christmas present one year. It's interesting, to say the least!

This is my money jar (and my messy dresser). You can see my red money-box (beneath the Milka bar), my coin bank (behind the pen-jar), and my quarter-box (the Fuzzy Wuzzy cat bank), as well. I think my blue money jar's pretty, though!

[insert inner jar picture]

What am I going to do with all this money? I'm going to place it into my Savings Account. It's going to be a rather large cash deposit, and I'm sure the teller's going to look at me like I'm absolutely insane. But hey, if I've worked this hard, I'm not going to do it halfway! (I might keep a few dollars out, depending on how much cash I have in my red box by then. Otherwise, it's all going straight to the bank!)

How am I keeping track of all this money? Simple. I found a pin on Pinterest that I was able to print out and place on my dresser, beneath my money jar. I also put my money in the same day every week - on a Saturday. That way, I'm home from school, and I've also gotten my paycheck cashed. There's no way I can miss a week! (Checking off the amount helps, too.)

This is the tracking sheet. I place a star next to the week when I complete it, then the date next to the dollar amount.  That way I don't get off track.

Why am I doing this? Well, I don't think I really have a reason. I just need to save some money, and this seems to be the easiest way to do so. The later weeks are always going to eat away at my paycheck, but the end result is amazing. While I don't have over $1,300 this year, I do have $946. And for a nineteen-year-old girl, that's an awesome achievement.

Now I have a challenge for you, dear readers.

Will you take the Challenge with me in 2014?

I know it may be asking a lot from some of you, especially as y'all might not have jobs. (I have no idea of your current financial situation, but it's probably not very good, considering you're probably either on a military salary, working a part-time job, working a below-minimum-wage job, are unemployed, attending college, or are still in high school...or maybe a combination of two or more of these things!) Then there's this person's reasoning. (As you can see, I've also commented on here with my own opinion...)

However, think of the reward. At the end of 2014, you'll be able to march up to your bank, place your jar on the counter, and say, "I'd like to deposit this in my savings account." And the teller will smirk at your piggy bank, your red velvet box, your grandmother's jewelry box, or whatever else you're using to hold your money, and they'll say, "Of course." When the jar is opened, their jaw will drop, and you'll be the one smirking in satisfaction at a job well-done. 

Join me. The only reward is the knowledge that you're able to actually save money. (I've always had problems with that...this is helping, BIG-TIME!) Plus, you can jump in at ANY TIME! (I started in March, for example, after getting my first paycheck!) It's easier to keep track of everything if you start at Week One, no matter when you join. Then just start over on January 1.

What have you got to lose?