Money Matters Made Simple for Moms:

Discover Christmas Decor and Gift options

What's Inside

Biweekly Money Saving Challenge: How To Save $10,000 In 26 Weeks?

Discover a biweekly money saving challenge to help you save $10,000 in just 26 weeks with simple tips and manageable goals.
Charity Jerop
Published on: Feb 9, 2024
Updated on: Nov 14, 2024
Biweekly Money Saving Challenge: How To Save $10,000 In 26 Weeks?

Disclaimer: At Penny Calling Penny, transparency is important to us. Some links on our site are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission. Rest assured, we only recommend products and services that we trust and believe will benefit our readers.

What's Inside
Listen to this content
Listen to this content
Biweekly Money Saving Challenge: How To Save $10,000 In 26 Weeks
Loading
/

Is it that time of the year for you? The time when you decide to save some bucks for short-term or long-term goals.

You should be aware of all the money savings challenges that are available for you to take on to save more. 

These challenges help you to stay motivated and save more in the long run while taking out only a small fraction of money from your weekly income. 

You can start with a savings challenge that is easy to understand and doesn’t take much out of your pocket just when you are beginning.  

Types Of Weekly Money Savings Challenges

There are numerous types of bi-weekly challenges, and here we have listed a few of them.

If one of these could also encourage you to save money, go for it.

  • 52-Week Challenge

This challenge helps you save money each week.

You can start with $1 in the first week, and by the end of the year, after 52 weeks, you will have $1,378 in your savings. 

  • $20 Money Saving Challenge

This is a weekly money savings challenge. You can choose a particular amount you want to save every week and automate it for your preferred period. 

Suppose you save $20 for 12 months every week; you will have a total of $960. 

  • No Spend Challenge

This is an old one. This challenge makes you avoid spending any money for a month straight. 

This no spending challenge is for non-essential items un, necessary things like movies, eating out, etc. 

The money that you do not spend will automatically become your savings. 

Make sure you do not spend it anywhere but in your savings account.

  • 100 Envelope Challenge

This is a very traditional way of saving money

You get 100 empty envelopes, number them from 1 to 100, and put the same amount of money in each envelope.

You can shuffle these envelopes and pick a random envelope every day. 

This way you will be saving nearly $5000 in 100 days.

  • Bowl Grab Challenge

This is a very simple money-saving challenge. You take some different pieces of paper and put them in a bowl. 

You keep this bowl where you can see it every day, and then you pick a chit each day and save that much money for that day. 

Depending on how many days you do it and what amount you put in, you could save a lot.

Biweekly Money Saving Challenge

Are you ready to start saving this year? A biweekly money-saving challenge is the right strategy.

It is a saving strategy that requires you to save a specific amount biweekly.

Today, we’ll focus on this saving method, which will hopefully help you achieve your year’s saving goals.

There are dozens of money-saving challenges, and picking the right one can be challenging.

Creating a saving culture can be difficult, thanks to endless bills and other things that require money.

The exciting part is that you can create a saving style like the biweekly money-saving challenge to suit your needs.

Keep reading to understand what and how the biweekly money-saving challenge works. 

What Is Biweekly Money Saving Challenge?

Whether you need to save for a wedding, education, a holiday, travel, or build a nest egg for rainy days, starting a saving challenge can help you achieve your goals.

The biweekly saving challenge focuses on saving money every other two weeks.

You’ll set a specific amount from your paycheck towards your biweekly saving kitty. 

For instance, you can save $10 in the first two weeks and double the amount in the next two weeks.

If you start with $10 and set an increment of the same amount, expect to save $3,510 by the end of the challenge.

You can increase the amount by ten dollars each week. 

The biweekly money-saving challenge has 26 cycles in a year.

You can set the amount to save depending on your budget and paydays.

This budget works well for people who get their paycheck biweekly.

It is a budget-friendly way to save without straining, penny-pinching, or cutting your budget.

The best thing about this saving challenge is that you can start with any amount and set an increment of the same amount.

Types Of Biweekly Challenges

There are numerous types of biweekly challenges. 

In fact, you can also turn the above-mentioned money-saving challenges into bi-weekly challenges. 

Here are a few other bi-weekly challenges that you might want to try to save some more bucks. 

  • Trim 1%

There is a chance you are one of the people who get paid bi-weekly. Thus, this challenge would be easy for you to follow. 

This challenge asks you to save 1% of your total salary. Suppose you get $1500 as your salary every two weeks. 

You could take $15 and save it up. By the end of the year, depending on your salary and it’s one per cent, you will end up saving hundreds of dollars. 

  • Reverse 26 Week

In this money-saving challenge, you do the opposite of what you do in the 26-week money-saving challenge. 

This means that in the traditional 26-week challenge, you start by saving the least amount and go on saving higher amounts as the weeks pass. 

But in reverse, you start with the most amount and go on decreasing the amount as the weeks pass. 

  • Dollar Two Saving

If you know about the $1 challenge, it would be easier to understand this. 

You save $2 the first week and then add $2 every two weeks. By the end of 26 weeks, you would have saved $702 or something. 

If you continue the challenge for longer, you will save even more. 

  • Saving $5000

There is a chance that $10,000 in 26 weeks seems overwhelming to you. 

You could start with saving $5000 in 26 weeks initially and then level up your game and save $10,000 in the next 26 weeks. 

For saving $5000 in 26 weeks you could either save nearly $192.31 or round it off to $193 and save it every week or adjust the amount to save every two weeks. 

You can also save a random amount every two weeks. But remember to keep the amount above $125 to achieve your goal of $5000.

How To Choose A Money-Saving Challenge?

You should factor in your budget and your goals before you decide on which money savings challenge you want to go for. 

Even if you don’t have a saving goal as of now, you should set a small goal and start saving. 

You can choose a challenge that is budget-friendly. 

You can save money either the traditional way in your piggy banks, or you can have a separate bank account for your savings, and if you get an interest-bearing account, you can add up more to your savings account. 

Your financial goals could be long-term or short-term, like an emergency fund, wedding expenses, or a down payment for a house. A money-saving challenge can help you. 

Just set the amount you require, consider the budget, and pick an amount from the budget to save every now and then and start saving.

How Much Money Do You Save In A Biweekly Money Saving Challenge?

The amount you can save in a biweekly savings challenge depends on your income, responsibilities, and saving goals.

You can start with $1, $5, $8, $10, $15, $50, $100, and even more—nothing is set to stone on how to go about the biweekly saving challenge.

The ultimate goal is to make this saving challenge fun and affordable, so you can start with whichever amount you deem fit your budget.  

You don’t need any app or software to get started with this money-saving challenge—the good old pen and paper can help you visualize your savings. 

Create a biweekly table that runs up to 26 weeks and assign the amount to save the first week, which will be an increment for the subsequent biweekly weeks. 

Automating your biweekly savings is an excellent strategy to stay committed throughout the saving challenge period. 

Complete your saving journey by ticking against each week and ensuring you top up your account with the amount for that week. 

How To Save Money Biweekly?

There is no set thumb rule on how to approach a biweekly money-saving challenge, and you can consider one of the many ways to complete this challenge in 26 biweekly weeks. 

First, you need to create a savings account, which can be your 401K or an online account with your bank.

Automating your savings is a breeze when you have an account. 

Once that is set, you can create start and end dates for the challenge; you can start this at any time of the year.

The important thing is for you to save consistently for 26 weeks.

Your next step is deciding the amount to deposit into your account.

You can start saving the highest amount as you reduce it by a set base figure or with the smallest amount as you increase it. 

This saving system is known as the reverse or descending method.

For instance, if you want to start a $10 biweekly saving, you can save $260 in the first two weeks and work your way down to $10 at the end of the challenge. 

Alternatively, you can start with $10 and save $260 during the last two weeks, which is an ascending method.

Biweekly $3500 Money-Saving Challenge Table

Biweekly WeekAmount To SaveSavings Balance
1$10$10
2$20$30
3$30$60
4$40$100
5$50$150
6$60$210
7$70$280
8$80$360
9$90$450
10$100$550
11$110$660
12$120$780
13$130$910
14$140$1,050
15$150$1,200
16$160$1,360
17$170$1,530
18$180$1,710
19$190$1,900
20$200$2,100
21$210$2,310
22$220$2,530
23$230$2,760
24$240$3,000
25$250$3,250
26$260$3,510

How To Save $10,000 In A Year?

There are some steps that you should follow to save $10,000 in a year.

These steps will help you get a clearer picture and lead you in the right direction. 

  • Budgeting

Before you choose or make any savings plans, it is important to look at your income and expenses, which means also creating a budget.

This will help you identify where you are spending unnecessarily and thus cut expenses there. 

Then, you will know which money needs to be dedicated to savings.

  • Planning

Even though there are savings plans with a defined roadmap, it would be beneficial if you customized any of the savings plans that you choose according to your needs and goals. 

Your goals play a very important role in helping you decide the plan that would work best for you. 

This will not only make your savings plan actionable but also structured and easy to follow. 

  • Spending

You already have heard a thousand times to cut down unnecessary spending. 

This is because it actually works.

When you cut down expenses like eating out often, or buying super expensive sneakers, or attending a Taylor Swift concert, you will realize you have more money at the end of the month. 

And these extra bucks will help you reach your financial goals earlier. 

  • Earning

If you have free time on weekends or come home early in the evening from your job, you could try to get a side job or part-time work. 

You could freelance online or find other weekend jobs which are work from home and help you earn more every week.

These extra bucks could go directly into your savings account. 

  • Borrowing

If you are serious about your financial goals, you should stop or avoid borrowing. 

If you already have debts, you must pay them off, but you must try to avoid taking out any new debts, especially credit card debts.

They come with high interest, and it is difficult to come out of the habit of using Crest cards once you begin. 

To make sure that you achieve your financial goals, you must avoid taking on new debts.

  • Investing

Another way to ensure that you can achieve your financial goals and save $10,000 in a year is to invest smartly.

There are many good investing options, like mutual funds, which offer high return rates. 

Of course, investing does come with risks, but low-risk investments like high-yield savings accounts or certificates of deposits could be one of your options.

How Much Should I Save Biweekly To Save $10,000?

Do you want to save a grand this year? The biweekly money-saving challenge, also known as a 26-week saving challenge, can help you hit the goal.

You can use a flat rate or the increment method to achieve this savings amount or more in a year.

If you save $384.62 every other two weeks or $192.31 every week for 26 weeks, you’ll have $10k in your nest egg. 

Alternatively, you can start with a small amount, for instance, $29, and increase the amount by this figure biweekly.

You’ll save at least $10,181 at the end of the challenge.

There is no preferred or better method; start saving an amount that fits your budget and payment periods. 

Biweekly $10k Money-Saving Challenge Table

Biweekly WeekAmount To SaveSavings Balance
1$29$29
2$58$87
3$87$174
4$116$290
5$145$435
6$174$609
7$205$814
8$232$1,046
9$261$1,307
10$290$1,597
11$319$1,916
12$348$2,264
13$377$2,641
14$406$3,047
15$435$3,482
16$464$3,946
17$493$4,439
18$522$4,961
19$551$5,512
20$580$6,092
21$609$6,701
22$638$7,339
23$667$8,006
24$696$8,702
25$725$9,427
26$754$10,181

Why Biweekly Savings Challenge?

There are dozens of money-saving challenges, so why pick a biweekly, 26-week saving challenge?

One of the best things about a biweekly saving challenge is that it can help you focus and achieve your money goals, and automating your savings can help you stay on track.

Another thing is that you can save more money in a biweekly saving challenge.

You can deposit money into your savings kitty more than in a monthly challenge.

Plus, using the reverse or the pump-up method can motivate you to save more and stick to a healthy saving habit. 

Starting a savings challenge means keeping track of your finances, which can help you budget better.

When you track your expenses, it is easy to find and eliminate unnecessary costs and bad spending habits. 

Notably, a biweekly saving challenge is a perfect strategy if you earn every other two weeks.

You only need to automate the savings and watch your nest egg.

Tracking The Challenge

You must make sure to track the progress of your savings challenge. 

This is important to make sure that you are still on the right track and stay motivated about savings, too. 

When you track your progress, you are making sure that the plan you have decided on is the right one for sure and that it is actually showing results. 

You can also know how much of the challenge has been completed and if the amount you intend to save is nearing the finish line. 

Here are a few ways to track the progress of your money-saving challenge. 

  • Visuals

You create visuals for your money-saving challenge.

You can try making a vision board for your saving goal and updating it as you make progress. 

This will not only keep your plan on track but also keep you motivated.

  • Apps

There are several saving tracker apps. These apps can help you track your savings progress and monitor your savings profile. 

They generally offer features like setting goals, tailoring the plan according to your savings goal and also visualizing the money saving plan and goals. 

  • Paper

You can always go for the traditional paper tracking way. 

You can create a calendar for your savings goals. You can tick the amount you save every bi-weekly from the calendar. 

This will help you to understand the track of the goal and plan. 

Physically ticking off the amount saved will also provide an extra boost to your motivation to keep the challenge on. 

What Are Mistakes Made When Saving Money?

We are all humans, and it is very possible to make mistakes when saving money. 

However, it is also helpful to be aware of these mistakes and to try to avoid them. 

These mistakes might not necessarily make a huge mess for the money-saving challenge, but it is better to avoid them. 

  • Variable Expenses

While saving money, you must not avoid variable expenses. 

If ignored, these expenses can strain your savings challenge with sudden expenses. 

So, do not make the mistake of adding them to your monthly budget.

  • Financial Goals

You must be aware of your financial goal. The money-saving challenge you are pursuing is the goal, but you must know where your $10,000 will go after you have saved it up. 

So, do not make the mistake of not having a financial goal like retirement or an emergency fund.

  • Cautious Expenditure

When you make expenditures, it is necessary to spend cautiously and only on useful things. 

However, excessive cautious spending can also become counterproductive. 

So do not make the mistake of deducting all forms of entertainment or relaxing activities from your budget just for the sake of saving money.

  • Impulse Purchases

There might come a moment while you are still doing your money savings challenge when you would want to give to some impulse purchase, but you need to be careful not to give in to them.

Try the 24-hour rule: wait 24 hours before you make the purchase and see if you still need it.

  • Budget Adjustments

If you think one budget can last a lifetime, you might be wrong. You should change or adjust your budget according to changes in your life.

When you have kids, your budget will be different than it was when you were a bachelor.

Do not make the mistake of keeping the same budget for different changes in your life and income.

Money Saving Challenge FAQs

42% of Americans have less than $1000 in savings, and the average American holds $4,500 in a savings account, which shows that most people don’t have a substantial amount in savings.

Sticking to a challenge can make a difference if you want to save more than the average person.

Understandably, there are many questions regarding money-saving challenges, and below are the answers to some of your questions.

Money-saving challenges are financial strategies to motivate you to achieve your money goals. You can set the challenge for a specific period that matches your goals. For instance, you can do a biweekly saving challenge for twenty-six weeks in a year. Other options include the daily and the 52 weeks money-saving challenge.

There is no set rule, and you can pick a money-saving challenge that matches your needs and goals. For example, you can choose the biweekly saving method because you get your paycheck biweekly. There are daily challenges you can start with a $1 and pump up your savings by the dollar. The joy of accomplishing a saving goal can motivate you to save more.

Starting a saving challenge can be pretty straightforward, and you need to set up an account to start your money-saving challenge. Choose a saving plan challenge daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly.

Once you pick your saving challenge, find ways to cut unnecessary expenditures and focus on building healthy saving habits. Adjust the saving challenge how you want; you could use the reverse method and save the big bucks first.

You can contribute the same amount throughout the 26 weeks or start small and pump upwards. Saving even a dollar every two weeks can translate to $351 at the end of the twenty-six weeks. That’s a good amount to pay for an emergency or buy anything.

You can start your money-saving challenge with any amount, a dollar, two dollars, five dollars, or even $200. Typically, this can depend on your end goal.

Do you need to save for a large purchase like a house down-payment, car purchase, or remodeling? You’ll have to set bigger saving goals, like $10k annually through biweekly savings. Having a deadline to save money every two weeks is the huge motivating factor you need to stay on track.

Save Money Biweekly And Achieve Your Goals

Are you ready to kickstart your saving journey this year? The biweekly money-saving challenge is perfect if you need a simple strategy.

Be creative and find ways to put more money into your savings account.

The biweekly money-saving challenge is one of the many excellent blogs to help you grow your savings.

Get more money-saving tips by joining our newsletter!

Did you take our Reader Survey? If not, it only takes 1 minute and you can take our survey here.

Charity is a freelance personal finance writer focusing on Making Money, Saving Money, Budgeting, and Loans here at Penny Calling Penny. If she is not writing about personal finance, you will find her working on her little blog-charityjerop.com”.

You May Also Like

Was this article helpful? We'd love to hear from you!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe
Notify of
2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
search-leftline

SEARCH

search-leftline

Extra Money Made Easy!

Making money can be easy for you too. Take your first step to stable finances with our exclusive one-page money-making guide.

(By subscribing, you agree to our terms & conditions, privacy policy, and disclaimer. Unsubscribe At Any Time)

Extra Money Made Easy!

Making money can be easy for you too. Take your first step to stable finances with our exclusive one-page money-making guide.  

  • Exclusive money lessons 
  • Achieve your income goals 
  • Better money management

(By subscribing, you agree to our terms & conditions, privacy policy, and disclaimer. Unsubscribe At Any Time)

check your email

Woohoo!

Your Printable is en route!

Check your promotion, junk, and spam folders: Sometimes, our emails can end up in unexpected folders.

Thanks

Team Penny Calling Penny!

(By subscribing, you agree to our terms & conditions, privacy policy, and disclaimer. Unsubscribe at any time)