Something happened about 2 weeks ago, and I'm really proud of it. I deposited over $800 in cash into my checking account.
Around New Year's resolution time this year, my friend shared a 'savings challenge' on my facebook wall that suggested making savings a regular part of your routine would help you to stick with it. Their suggested process - a 52 week challenge that involved putting money away every week. Week 1 meant $1 into an envelope. Week 2 meant $2 into an envelope. Week 3 meant $3 into an envelope...and so on, until a year passed and you ended up with $1378 in cash.
That sounded cool to me, but I decided to modify it a bit.
First, I decided to do the experiment for 40 weeks (the challenge started January 3rd and I knew Christmas shopping was no time for me to 'save' money so I wanted to be done before then).
Second, I decided to start at the biggest amount, and work my way backwards. This way, I was putting $40 away during week 1, $39 for week 2, $38 for week 3 and so on.
It worked splendidly! Of course there were times I had to 'borrow' money from my savings, but I always made sure when Friday rolled around, the amount that was borrowed was immediately returned. And, because I started with the larger numbers, as I got further along, I actually worked ahead. On the week when I was meant to put in $15, I ended up throwing $20 into the envelope and marking off the $15 and $5 days. This means instead of spending 40 weeks, it only took me 31 weeks to end up with $820.
I happily deposited the money and made a big payment on my car.
I'm now challenging myself to $20 per week for 52 weeks. So by the end of July 2015, I should have over $1,000 to put into my savings (and my car should be paid off by then, so I smell a vacation in my future!).
Wish me luck!