There is one extremely simple strategy you can use to get you up and running early in the new year, while giving your financial confidence and momentum a huge boost.
The strategy is to commit to saving for something new, even if the saving goal is simple. For example, you can commit to a new saving project, where you save $10 a week, for 52 weeks, for a total of $520. May not sound like a lot of money, and that is exactly the point. The idea is to make it doable, so you can continue and be consistent until the end.
Another popular saving method is the 52-week challenge: it involves progressively saving money each week, starting with $1 in the first week and increasing by a dollar each subsequent week. By the end of the year, you would have saved $1,378, in addition to any interest if it is in a saving account. Alternatively, you can double the challenge by initiating with $2 in the first week and incrementally adding $4 each week. This way, by week 52, you’ll have saved a total of $2,756, in addition to any interest if applicable.
What is the point of this? If you are not a saver, it forces you to start a new habit the easy way. The hope is to give you momentum to extrapolate this to other areas of your finance, where you start saving and investing more. And while this challenges you to save, it does so in simple and consistent manner, not overwhelming you on the way. The new year brings with it new debt payoff obligations from the holidays, so it may not be a good idea to start saving big, unless you have the money or have no debt obligations.
By the end of this year, even if you have had no other saving initiatives, you will at least have this one, and you will be very thankful you did. Moreover, it will strengthen your saving muscle and want to do it more.