save money for things like Christmas or a vacation but they set saving amounts that are too high and they can’t keep up with it. It is a challenge to save money for most people. If you’re looking for better ways to save money this might be for you.   On Facebook, there is a meme going around that is actually quite useful. It is the 52 week saving chart. 52 Week Money Challenge ChartThis chart sets up better ways to save money so that at the end of the year you will have $1,378 save up – and that is not including interest! It is easy to use and not too hard to set aside the money. The way it works is that you set aside a certain amount each week. The first week you put aside $1. The second week you set aside $2. The amount you set aside increases in $1 increments each week. An alternative way to do this would be to do it backwards. That way, by the time Christmas or the main event rolls around you are setting aside the smallest amount of money. Why should you try this savings method? First of all, it is easy. Anyone can do this, even if you don’t have a large amount of money to set aside. You can plan ahead on the weeks that you are going to be setting aside large amounts of money so it isn’t a big strain to your wallet. The other reason is that it gets you into the habit of setting aside money. Creating the habit of setting aside money can be the hardest part of savings! When you focus on one week at a time, it becomes an easier task. What do you want to save for this year? This 52 week savings challenge can work for anything. People often use it for saving money for Christmas because the amount saved is about right for buying Christmas presents. You could also save up for a vacation after the Christmas season. Let’s face it – a vacation right after Christmas is a good thing! We could all use it! You could save up money for school this way. If you did this every year you would have enough money to pay for your courses for the next school year! You could also use this method to save up money to do some renovations or redecorating in your home. You’d be able to redecorate or do some renovations on every room in your house over a period of several years. If you do renovations that increase the value of your home you’re actually making your money work for you. Have you tried this method of saving money? Are you going to try it this year? Do you think this is a better way to save money and that the challenge to save money would be easier with this method? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.]]>