I’ve saved £1k with easy savings challenges – I didn’t notice money leaving my account and I’m on track to double my pot

A SAVVY saver has managed to put aside over £1,000 with a savings challenge - and anyone can do it.

Jacqueline Poutney, 30, lives in Newcastle with her partner.

The teacher, originally from Watford, decided to set herself the challenge of putting money aside during the pandemic.

She had little knowledge of finance growing up, and her family lived from payday to payday.

But she has now managed to save a tidy sum after discovering the hack of savings challenges.

Jackie came across open banking app Plum and decided first to opt in for its weekly roundups.

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 then going into her savings.

Since March 2020, Jackie has saved £990.55 through these roundups alone.

This, Jackie says, was all done without her noticing the money leaving her bank account.

Jackie said: "You don't really feel it that much but once that [saving] balance tops up you don't want to spend it."

After a couple of months, Jackie had been 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, which puts £1 away during the first week, then £2, then £3 and so on.

Eventually, savers will put £52 into their pot during the final week.

Jackie joined this challenge wanting to grow her savings further.

She says she doesn't feel the pressure when it gets to the bigger amounts leaving her account.

"It works really well because when you're skint in January it's £1 but when you're buying Christmas presents it takes £52."

The teacher is now 50 weeks into the 52-week challenge and her total savings so far is £1,275 - though she's on track to save £1,378 .

This would bring her total savings through challenges including the roundups to £4,764.

Along with these challenges and a stocks and shares ISA with Plum, Jackie has saved £9,762 in total in the last four years.

Saving challenges can be like a game - and one you want to win

Jackie says savings challenges are something anyone can do and teach you that even £1 can go a long way.

"The fact I've come from no financial education at all, to then being able to do something, I think that's the step.

"It's to get people on the bandwagon of saving."

As a teacher, Jackie says she tries to implement as many games into her lessons as she can and she found Plum's challenges were like this.

"You don't want to see the balance come down," she explains.

"The fact it was a challenge made me feel like I've got to rise something."

And there's no pressure to keep to the set amount as Plum will only take out what it thinks you can afford each week.

So if you've got bills coming out or you have spent more than usual, it'll take less to go towards the savings pots.

"You can make it fit to what you want, go up and down, you can change it."

Jackie owns 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 an account for bills.

The savings Jackie has made through Plum over the four years have gone towards buying a campervan, a holiday and most recently she put £500 towards her mum's 50th birthday.

She said she has dipped into the money every so often, but it's nice to be able to use it on bigger purchases, rather than trying to find the money from your monthly income.

Jackie is hoping to use her savings and round-ups to eventually become mortgage free.

She's also spending some on her upcoming wedding.

What savings challenges are out there?

There are many savings challenges people can try, whether you only want to put in £1 each week or if you've got a bit more to play with.

Here are some we've seen:

1p savings challenge - £668

You start by saving 1p, then increase the amount you save by 1p each day.

So as day one is 1p, day two means you stash away 2p, and the next day it's 3p and so on.

By day number 365, you'd be adding £3.65 to the account.

If you started on January 1, 2024, and kept it up, you'll have saved a grand total of £667.95 by December 31, 2024.

52-week challenge - £1,378

The 52-week challenge works by getting participants to put aside £1 for the first week, £2 for the second, £3 for the third and so forth, until the end of the year.

The amounts start small, but towards the end of the year, you might find the weekly savings target grows too big.

For example, you'll have to put away the largest sums around Christmas with £202 in total required in the final four weeks of the year.

So before you start, consider whether it could be too much of a stretch at an already expensive time of year.

If you can stick to it though, the payoff is huge as you'll pocket a whopping £1,378.

You could always flip it and start off with the biggest amount (£202 a week) and then get smaller - it might be worth making a chart so you can keep on top of figures.

365-day challenge - £1,456

If the 52-week challenge seems a little daunting, you might prefer the 365-day challenge.

You'll set aside £1 on Sunday, £2 on Monday, £3 on Tuesday and so on, all the way up to saving £7 on Saturday - the largest daily amount of the week. 

You then restart the process on the next Sunday.

This should give you a weekly total of £28 in savings - adding up to £1,456 over the cost of the year.

Round-up challenge

The round-up challenge means you round up money you've spent and put that extra cash away into savings.

For example, if you've bought something that cost £19.30, then you'll round up to £20 and put 70p in savings.

It might not sound like much but if you're doing this with every transaction then it adds up.

Some banks will allow you to do this via your online banking app, so check with whoever you bank with.

If not, then you can also do this with apps like Emma and Plum.  

Money mistake jar

With a money mistake jar, you can make things more personal.

The idea is that you challenge yourself not to do something, or to not make a "mistake".

For example, 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're not fulfilled then you can put money into the jar.

How much is completely up to you.

If you don't use cash often, then you could put money in a "pot" with banks like Monzo.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money@the-sun.co.uk.

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