Money
Talkback: the 52-week money challenge
A challenge is better than a new years resolution - it’s a way to experiment with new habits. If you're looking for a fun and manageable way to boost your savings in 2024, try this:
- Transfer $1 to savings in the first week
- Transfer $2 to savings in the second week
- Transfer $3 to savings in the third week
Continue increasing the amount you're contributing to savings by $1 each week so by the end of the year, you put $52 into your savings account in the final week. If you stick with this plan every week, you will have saved $1,378 by the last week.
Other ways to save this year
Are you still using cash? If you are, you should know that you are a dying breed. Only 13% of the economy runs on notes and coins, and Australia's Reserve Bank Governor has even flagged the idea of charging fees for people to use bank notes.
Digital payments are more efficient than cash - you can read more in our Citro explainer - but if you love the feeling of coins and notes, then how about you try putting every gold coin you have in a jar during 2024?
A no-spend challenge is another great game, which works especially well if you have a partner or friend to do it with you.
See which one of you can go the longest without spending on any non-necessities. Define what a necessity is (like bills) and then keep track of how long you can go without paying for anything but the essentials.
Another option is to see how many no-spend days you can have during a month or who can rack up the most no-spend days during a month-long period. These are days when you spend no money on anything at all.