am all about saving money these days, but I have to admit that paying off my debt was way more fun. Don’t get me wrong; I love seeing our savings grow. I truly enjoy logging into our internet banking on the day we get paid, because I know that it is that time of the month again when I get to top up our savings accounts and make another step towards our big savings goals.
Sometimes, though, saving money can become a little tedious. You see, we are saving for something that currently does not have a shape or form. We have quite a few long-term savings goals, but I know that we have a long way to go before we can make them a reality. Also, they may change over time.
On the other hand, making debt repayments every month gave me an absolute satisfaction, motivation, and determination to strive for more. Each payment was a step towards debt freedom. I could not wait to make yet another payment, slash another chunk of my debt and blog about it. It was like a drug which I was addicted to until I made my very last debt repayment.
That said, I have found some fun ways to save money and boost my savings in no time. The fun part is that I know I can achieve my goal within a short period and enjoy my efforts sooner rather than later.
SAVE £2 COINS
The idea here is to save every £2 coin that gets into your hands. These coins are harder to come across than any other coin, which means you will not feel like you are taking too much out of your budget. I usually start putting them aside in a small jar in January and continue making £2 contributions over the course of one year (you can make it less or more than a year). Once the year is up, I break the bank and usually have around £80 waiting for me. I know this is not a lot, but the idea here is not hard-core saving (I have my savings accounts for that) but rather a fun and easy way to boost your savings without too much effort.
You can spend this cash on whatever you like: a romantic dinner with your other half, a day trip somewhere you wanted to go for a while or maybe something nice for yourself. Alternatively, you can use this money to top up one of your savings accounts.
52-WEEK MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE
This is my favourite way to save for Christmas. I usually start saving on the 1st of January every year and stop when it is time to do my Christmas shopping, usually around the end of November. I often take some cash out of this fund when I find something on sale that I know will make an excellent Christmas present for one of my family members. This is another good way to save money, because when it gets to Christmas time, it will be next to impossible to find things on sale.
This year I am doing the following 52-week money challenge: save £1 in the first week and keep increasing your contributions by £1 every week until you get to week 52 with a deposit of £52. You will have saved £1,378 by the end of the year. So far we have £78 sitting in our Christmas fund. This will get progressively more challenging but our plan is to stick with it until we have saved at least £1,000 (week 45) for Christmas.
You can also take up this challenge in reverse. Start with £52 in the first week and decrease your deposits by £1 every week. If you do not feel like saving this much, you can also put aside a smaller amount. You can start by setting aside between £1 to £5 each week, and when you get to December, you will have some cash to spend on Christmas presents.
SAVE LEFTOVER CASH
This is another money saving idea that I love! If you have a budget like we do, try and have some cash left over in each category (or at least some) at the end of each month and keep the change! It is an excellent way to not only stay within your budget but spend even less than you had planned to. I will start this challenge on the 1st of April, and you are welcome to start with me! I know that this money saving idea will motivate me, even more, to stick to our budget and watch our spending.
Leftover money can then be added to one of your main savings accounts or spent on something fun if you so desire.
TO CONCLUDE
Money saving does not have to be boring. As you can see, you can make it a fun game! These money saving ideas can all be implemented at the same time (which is what I am doing), or you can do one at a time. Whatever way you choose to do it, you will have extra money waiting for you when you need it.