top of page

$5 Savings Challenge




Are you ready for a challenge to help you save up some cash?  Well now is the time, frugal readers!  I’d like to challenge each of you to save up $500 just $5 at a time.  Saving up $500 sounds daunting.  It might seem fairly impossible, especially if money is already tight and you struggle to pay your bills.  However, putting aside just $5 can quickly add up and you’ll have $500 in no time.  All you need is an envelope and the $5 Savings Challenge Chart.  Are you ready to get started?  Here are some different approaches to the $5 Savings Challenge - pick the one that works for you.


You could try to save $5 every day.  You could cut out stopping by the convenience store or getting that coffee every morning in a drive-thru.  You could pack your lunch instead of eating out.  You could stop using the soda machine at work and bring a drink from home.  There are plenty of ways to save $5 a day.  When you get $5 (whether it is a five dollar bill or five one dollar bills), set it aside and fill in a cube on the $5 Savings Challenge chart.  This way you can see and track your progress, which is very motivating for most people. 


You could try to save $5 every time a five dollar bill comes into your possession.  If you pay with cash, chances are that you often have a five dollar bill in your wallet, pocket, or purse.  Make it a habit to set that $5 aside so you can fill in a cube on your chart.  This is probably the most realistic approach to the $5 Savings Challenge since there’s no time crunch or pressure to save $5 every single day. 


You could try to save $5 each week.  Sure, it would take you almost two years to fill in the chart but at least you’re trying!  Oftentimes you’ll realize that saving $5 isn’t as hard as you thought and end up saving more than $5 in a week.  This is why using the chart is so important - it allows you to visually track your progress.  I tend to shade in each cube but I know one person who is putting a check mark in it and another person is using Xs to put in each cube.  It’s up to you!  You could even use colored pencils or pens to make it more aesthetically pleasing.  Just remember to shade the cubes in horizontally and go row by row.


You could do it digitally and move $5 to savings on your banking app.  There are plenty of ways to save up money on your phone instead of in cash.  If you’re the type of person who never has cash, then perhaps doing the $5 Savings Challenge would be more realistic by moving $5 at a time over into your savings account.  It’s pretty easy to do and most banking apps allow you to transfer money with just the click of a button.  I challenge you to still try the $5 Savings Challenge by transferring $5 at a time from checking to savings.  Go ahead and do the first $5 right now!  Then decide how often you’re going to transfer $5 and stick to it.


I’d like to challenge my readers to try this $5 Savings Challenge.  I’ll be checking in with my friends, family, and co-workers on their progress, so check back here for updates coming soon.  I’ll be doing the $5 Savings Challenge right along with you; in fact, I’ve already started!  We’ll be talking soon about what to do with that $500 once you get it saved and what makes a goal like this more achievable.  Ask a friend to do the challenge with you and make it a competition, which adds accountability and will help you stick to it.  Click here to print a pdf of the $5 Savings Challenge chart and go find an envelope so you can start today!





Comments


bottom of page