A SAVVY saver has managed to put away more than £1,000 with a savings challenge – and anyone can do it.
Jacqueline Poutney, 30, lives with her partner in Newcastle.
The teacher, originally from Watford, decided to set herself the challenge of putting money aside during the pandemic.
She had little knowledge of finances growing up, and her family lived payday to payday.
But she has now managed to save a fair amount of money after discovering the savings challenge hack.
Jackie came across the open banking app Plum and decided to sign up for the weekly roundups first.
It meant that when Jackie spent money, Plum automatically rounded up the amount and put the difference into a pot every Monday.
So a £2.50 spend would become £3, with 50p going into her savings.
Since March 2020, Jackie has saved £990.55 from these roundups alone.
This, Jackie says, all happened without her noticing the money leaving her bank account.
Jackie said: “You don't feel it that much, just once [saving] the balance is being replenished and you don't want to spend it.”
After a few months, Jackie was spurred on by her progress and felt ready to make a bigger commitment to saving.
Plum also offers savings challenges, including the 52-week challenge, where you set aside $1 in the first week, then $2, then $3, and so on.
Ultimately, savers will put £52 into their pot in the final week.
Jackie took part in this challenge and wanted to further increase her savings.
She says she doesn't feel the pressure when it comes to the larger amounts disappearing from her account.
“It works really well because if you're bald in January it costs £1, but if you're buying Christmas presents it costs £52.”
The teacher is now 50 weeks into the 52-week challenge and her total savings to date is £1,275, although she is on course to save £1,378.
This would take her total savings through challenges, including the roundups, to £4,764.
Between these challenges and a stocks and shares ISA with Plum, Jackie has saved a total of £9,762 over the last four years.
Saving challenges can be like a game, and a game you want to win
Jackie says savings challenges are something anyone can do and that £1 can go a long way.
“The fact that I have no financial training at all, to be able to do something, I think that is the step.
“It's to get people on the saving bandwagon.”
As a teacher, Jackie says she tries to implement as many games as possible into her lessons and she found that Plum's challenges were as follows.
“You don't want the balance to come down,” she explains.
“The fact that it was a challenge made me feel like I had to achieve something.”
And there's no pressure to stick to the set amount, as Plum only withdraws what you think you can afford each week.
So when bills come due or you've spent more than usual, it costs less to go to the piggy banks.
“You can adjust it to what you want, go up and down, you can change it.”
Jackie has a house in Newcastle with her partner.
Combined, they have a salary of around £80,000 a year and they both put 50% of their monthly income into a bills account.
The savings Jackie has made through Plum over the past four years have gone towards buying a camper van, a holiday and she recently put £500 towards her mother's 50th birthday.
She said she has dipped into the money every now and then, but it's nice to be able to use it for bigger purchases, instead of trying to take the money out of your monthly income.
Jackie hopes to use her savings and raids to eventually become mortgage free.
She is also spending some on her upcoming wedding.
What savings challenges are there?
There are lots of savings challenges people can try, whether you just want to put in £1 a week or you have a bit more to play with.
Here are some we saw:
1p savings challenge – £668
You start by saving 1 cent and then increase the amount you save by 1 cent each day.
So because day one is 1 cent, day two means you put away 2 cents, and the next day it's 3 cents, and so on.
On day number 365 you add € 3.65 to the bill.
If you started on January 1, 2024 and kept at it, you will have saved a total of $667.95 by December 31, 2024.
52 Week Challenge – £1,378
The 52-week challenge sees participants put aside £1 for the first week, £2 for the second, £3 for the third and so on until the end of the year.
The amounts start small, but by the end of the year the weekly savings goal may become too large.
For example, you should set aside the largest amounts around Christmas, with a total of €202, in the last four weeks of the year.
So before you start, consider whether it will take too much time at an already expensive time of year.
If you can stick with it, the payout is huge: you'll win a whopping £1,378.
You can always turn it around and start with the largest amount (€202 per week) and then go smaller. It may be worth making a chart so you can keep track of the numbers.
365 Day Challenge – £1,456
If the 52-week challenge seems a little intimidating, you may prefer the 365-day challenge.
You save £1 on Sunday, £2 on Monday, £3 on Tuesday and so on, until you save £7 on Saturday – the largest daily amount of the week.
Then you start the process again the following Sunday.
This should give you a weekly saving of £28, which equates to £1,456 over the year's costs.
Round challenge
The round-up challenge involves rounding up the money you've spent and putting that extra money into the piggy bank.
For example, if you bought something that costs €19.30, round it up to €20 and save 70 cents.
It may not sound like much, but if you do this for every transaction, it adds up.
Some banks allow you to do this via your online banking app, so check with whoever you bank with.
If not, this is also possible with apps like Emma and Plum.
Money mistake pot
You can make things more personal with a money box.
The idea is that you challenge yourself not to do something, or not to make a 'mistake'.
Maybe you want to challenge yourself to go running three times a week, or maybe you want to stop buying takeaways.
These can be your “mistakes” and if they are not fulfilled, you can put money in the pot.
How much is completely up to you.
If you don't use cash often, you can put money in a “pot” at banks like Monzo.
Do you have a money problem that needs to be solved? Get in touch by emailing money@the-sun.co.uk.
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