The 30-Day $100 Savings Challenge (Rutgers NJAES) (2024)

November 2016

Barbara O’Neill, Ph.D., CFP®
Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension

Do you want to save some money for holiday gifts or other short-term goals? Consider doing the 30-Day $100 Savings Challenge. The goal of the Challenge is simple: save $100 in a 30-day time period through a series of gradually increasing deposits. November has 30 days so every day is a savings day.

As shown in the picture below, daily savings deposits start at $1 a day for five days followed by $2, $3, and $4 each for five days. Note that required deposits do not increase beyond $5 a day for the last ten days of the Challenge.

Some people, however, prefer to do the Challenge in reverse and scale down from $5 to $1 if they have more money at the beginning of the month than the end. Another way to do the Challenge is to “skip around” and select daily deposit amounts in any order that add up to $100 by month’s end.

Once the monthly savings goal is reached, the Challenge can be repeated on a month-to-month basis for total annual savings of $1,200. When the Challenge starts to feel “easy,” it can be scaled up by doubling or tripling the daily savings amounts (e.g., a $200 a month or $300 a month challenge). When it feels too challenging, it can be scaled back to a $50 a month Challenge and monthly deposits are cut in half.

Day # Deposit Total Completion
Check-Off
Day # Deposit Total Completion
Check-Off
1$1$116$4$34
2$1$217$4$38
3$1$318$4$42
4$1$419$4$46
5$1$520$4$50
6$2$721$5$55
7$2$922$5$60
8$2$1123$5$65
9$2$1324$5$70
10$2$1525$5$75
11$3$1826$5$80
12$3$2127$5$85
13$3$2428$5$90
14$3$2729$5$95
15$3$3030$5$100

For a print copy of a 30-Day $100 Savings Challenge worksheet, see http://www.slideshare.net/BarbaraONeill/30-day-100-savings-challenge-0416.

For information about six different savings challenges, with different time frames and target savings goals, see http://articles.extension.org/pages/73884/monthly-investment-message:-july-2016.

The 30-Day $100 Savings Challenge (Rutgers NJAES) (2024)

FAQs

What is the $100 in 30 days challenge? ›

The goal of the Challenge is simple: save $100 in a 30-day time period through a series of gradually increasing deposits. November has 30 days so every day is a savings day. As shown in the picture below, daily savings deposits start at $1 a day for five days followed by $2, $3, and $4 each for five days.

Is the 100 envelope challenge worth it? ›

The benefit of the 100 Envelopes Challenge is that it starts small and encourages constant, conscious saving that builds quickly. But the trend—and the internet's obsession with buying “aesthetic” envelopes for it—may not be the most effective way to put away money, according to financial experts.

How much money will I save if I do the 100 day challenge? ›

Take stock of your savings At the end of 100 days, you'll have 100 envelopes containing $5,050. That's right—1 + 2 + 3 + 4 and every other number through 100 equals just over $5,000.

How to save $5000 in 3 months with 100 envelopes? ›

The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.

What are the rules for the 100 day challenge? ›

100 Days of Walking Challenge Rules

The Challenge includes walking 100 Days without taking a break, to walk for at least 1 Mile without stopping and completing a total of 100 Miles at the end of 100 days. You can choose the start date of the challenge and Register on the website www.100daysofwalking.com.

How does the 30 day savings challenge work? ›

Here's how it works: When you have the urge to make an impulse purchase, wait for 30 days and give yourself time to think about it. While considering the purchase, deposit the money you need for it into a savings account. If you still want to buy that item after the 30-day period is up, go for it.

How much will I save if I do the 100 envelope challenge? ›

After completing the 100 envelope challenge, you'll have saved $5,050. Each envelope will have a certain amount of cash, from 1 to 100. When you add all the envelopes together — $100 + $99 + 98 + $97, and so on, all the way down to $1 — the total amount comes out to $5,050.

How much to save $5000 in 6 months? ›

Cut Unnecessary Expenses From Your Budget

“To save $5000 in six months, one must have a budget or it likely won't work,” said Christine Sager of Sager Financial Coaching. “Divide $5,000 by six months and that equals $833/month that must be removed from the budget or earned in extra income.

How to save $4000 quickly? ›

How to Save an Extra $4,000 a Year
  1. Step #1: Look at Your Budget. “The first step in being able to save is to do a deep dive into your budget. ...
  2. Step #2: Figure Out Where to Cut Spending. ...
  3. Step #3: Determine Where Most of Your Money Is Going. ...
  4. Step #4: Sexy Math. ...
  5. Step #5: Set Up Automatic Transfers. ...
  6. Extra Tips.
Jan 7, 2019

How much do I need to save a month to get $10,000? ›

To reach $10,000 in one year, you'll need to save $833.33 each month. To break it down even further, you'll need to save $192.31 each week or $27.40 every day. These smaller chunks are much more realistic and simple to comprehend, making it easier to track your progress.

How much is $1 dollar a day for a year? ›

The answer to that question depends on interest rates or rates of return. With no interest involved, putting one dollar a day into a bank account (or a jar at home) will see you end up with $365 in a year. Multiply that amount by 30 years and you'll end up with $10,950.

How much is $100 in 100 days? ›

Continue this way until day 100, when your final savings deposit of $100 will bring you to a grand total of $5,050. Cue the exuberant videos with piles of money.

What happens when you save $100 dollars a month? ›

If you save $100 monthly for an entire year, you'll have $1,200 in the bank. But if you keep your savings in a savings account, you'll also earn interest. After one year of keeping $1,200 in a high-yield savings account with a 4.5% APY, you'll earn $54 in interest.

What is the envelope budget trick? ›

The concept is simple: Take a few envelopes, write a specific expense category on each one — like groceries, rent or student loans — and then put the money you plan to spend on those things into the envelopes. Traditionally, people have used the envelope system on a monthly basis, using actual cash and envelopes.

How can I save $100000 fast? ›

7 tips for getting your first $100,000
  1. Figure out how much money you can safely save each month. ...
  2. Automate your savings. ...
  3. Maximize your employer-sponsored savings and investment accounts. ...
  4. Save your tax refunds and work bonuses. ...
  5. Pay off existing debt. ...
  6. Seek a raise or some other way to increase your income.

What is $10 K in 30 days challenge? ›

The $10k in 30 Days Challenge is a self-paced coaching program designed to help anyone build a $10,000 per month email marketing business from scratch in just 30 days. This 3-step email blueprint is surprisingly simple: Build a list of email subscribers in a hot market using little-known but timeless lead sources.

What is the $20 challenge? ›

All you have to do is save $20 each week for a year, and then you'll easily have $1,040. If you start this now and do it just until the holidays, you will have a nice chunk of change as well! And, it'll make saving money just a little more enjoyable. Yes, saving money can be fun!

How can I save $100 in 30 days? ›

A savings challenge is a great way to build your savings. For our 30 Day Savings Challenge, we invite you to start small by putting aside just $1 a day, and build that amount slowly over the course of the challenge until you reach $100 saved. Start your savings habit today!

What is the $10 challenge? ›

"Save $10 a week with this 52 Week Savings challenge will help you to meet all of your savings goals. Each week you tick of each amount in order to save the full 520 in the amount of weeks in a year. Saving can be hard but with this you can make it a fun challenge. Safe enough a week to add to the savings pot.

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