Saving money in small chunks.
Welcome to Day Seven of the Micro Saving Challenge.
Are you overwhelmed at the thought of having to save money? This is the guide for saving money in small chunks.
This challenge isn’t about making you rich overnight. It is meant to be a plan which uses small, baby steps to help you reach your saving goal one day at a time. I am going to focus on what can be done in just under three months. If I can do this for three months I know that I will find it motivating to move to a six-month goal and so on.
I am going to post a new entry each day talking about the challenges I have faced and the small changes I have made to get to my money-saving goal.
As we lockdown 2.0 looms on us in the UK I am conscious that there is a lot of uncertainty out there for many of us. I will keep posting my daily challenges. If you can join in please do. Even if you can only make a couple of changes it will all help. Remember that our Micro Saving challengeis ideal for saving money in small chunks.
Step One
If you are just joining us and have missed the instructions from Day one, you can access them here.
Before we get started on day seven’s challenge, make sure you have banked your 11-week challenge money. We are on the 23rd day of saving. Challenge one should have £15.41 banked, challenge two £63.94, and challenge three £69.00.
As a reminder here is what you should be able to bank by December 31st by following this step alone: challenge one saves £30, challenge two saves £155, and challenge three saves £255. Pick a challenge which works for you and stick with it.
Remember to keep a track of what you have banked. The numbers today might seem small but I want you to remember this is a day by day challenge. It is not meant to change your bank balance over night however it is meant to show you that with a few small changes you can achieve big things.
Step Two
Before we get started with today’s challenge lets recap the challenge from day six.
Your challenge was to plan some non-spending days. If you missed the instructions they can be found here.
Yesterday’s challenge was an easy one. With lockdown 2.0 here in the UK we can’t really go anywhere or do anything! It should be easy to spend no money for at least a few days in the next week.
I have looked at my treats which have now been cancelled because of lockdown and banked the money away. I am missing out on my haircut and nails so the money saved from both of these has been swiftly banked away.
Another way to save some money would be to stop your weekly take away for a few weeks. This alone saves me £120 per month. Instead, I have a weekly delivery of dinners from Gusto. I am still cooking from scratch but all of the hard work is taken away and everything arrives pre-planned and with easy to follow instructions. It is like having a restaurant takeaway each night without the horrific calories or cost.
At the moment the price of Gusto for the week gives us 16 meals – this is the equivalent cost of one takeaway. I also like the break from having to meal plan because I pick four recipes from the list and everything magically appears on my chosen day.
Remember to try and bank the money you have saved from your no spending days. My £30 saved today from not having a take away has been moved to my savings account.
Step Three
Today’s challenge is a simple one and even simpler for those of you who have the right type of bank account.
Today is all about rounding up to save.
What is rounding up? If you spend £29.95 in the supermarket, you pay the supermarket £29.95 and you then round up to £30 by moving 5p into your savings account.
This might sound so small and insignificant to you today but this is a powerful way to save. Remember the theme of savings challenge? It is Micro Saving, which is saving money one step at a time. Over the course of time these ’rounded up’ amounts will soon become a larger amount. You could go one better and round up to the next £5 or £10. That is when you spend £29.95, round up to £35 and bank the difference.
I know this sounds complex but there are a lot of specialist bank accounts out there which will do this for you. Banks such as Tandem, Monzo, and Starling offer Mobile Apps which will do the thinking for you.
If you are like me and (stupidly) still bank with a high street bank you might be limited to having to think for yourself and be disciplined to ’round up’ and save the difference.
Step Four
Make sure you keep track of what you find. It is important to see how the small amounts are adding up to something much bigger.
Step Five
Remember we aren’t trying to become millionaires overnight. This challenge is about reaching the small goal we set for ourselves by 31st December. If you think you can reach your goal with a lesser saving then do it, otherwise, try and save even a small amount for the next three months.
