52-Week Money Challenge: How to Save AED 20,000 This Year

A girl in white top with money in her hand

It is hard to find a person who says that they don’t want to save money. Between living expenses and spending money, it can be hard to save money each month. That is the reason why we are presenting the 52-week money challenge to motivate you to save.

For many people, getting started is the toughest part of saving. If you are not sure where to start saving or you have a hard time setting money aside, the 52-week money challenge will help you “create” spare cash without biting too much into your daily lifestyle.

What Exactly is the 52-weeks Money Challenge?

It is an incremental saving plan that makes it easy for you to save money consistently throughout the year. You can start by saving just AED 20 the first week of the challenge. The next week you can put away AED 40, and the next, AED 60.

Continue increasing your savings by AED 20 every week. By the end of the challenge, your total amount saved will be more than AED 20,000.

Here are some strategies to help you keep on following the 52-week money saving challenge:

  1. Better Start Small

It feels a lot more manageable to find AED 20 to save for a week than to say you’ll save AED 1,600 a month. If you feel intimidated by the prospect of saving, the challenge will help you build toward larger amounts by starting small.

  1. Try to Build Momentum

As you work towards your financial goal, you will gain momentum and notice more results each week. It will encourage you to keep on saving and help you build a long-term habit.

  1. Save As You Go

In order to reach the saving goals of AED 20000 this year, you’d have to save roughly AED 1,600 a month. Setting aside around 300-400 Dhiram each week is often more doable than finding AED 2000 at the end of the month after you’ve paid all your bills.

  1. Need to Stay Flexible

You might struggle to save because of pressing financial obligations, such as paying off debt. Since you have to set aside a small amount each week, the 52-week challenge will keep your money flexible rather than tying up hundreds or thousands of Dhiram all at once.

  1. Take It like a Game

Participating in a challenge, especially if you are doing it with a friend or family member, can help make saving more fun and exciting. Instead of finding it hard to save money, it will become a game that you want to win.

Difficulties of the 52-Week Saving Challenge and How to Encounter Them

It is easy to say that you’ll set aside AED 200 or 400 each week. However, as the challenge progresses, you may face difficulties, including:

  • Making it to the End

Saving AED 200 or 400 a week in a month of the festival can be tough. Most of the festivals occur in November and December. So, toward the end of the year is when things get tricky.

Solution: To tackle this, you can start the challenge in reverse: setting aside AED 900 in week one, 880 in week two, and so forth. That way, you’ll end up need to save AED 20 or 40 a week during the expensive holiday months.

  • Not Setting Aside Money Each Week

Additionally, since AED 20 a week, AED 40 a week, and then AED 60 a week is a nominal amount, it can be hard to remember to set that money each week with everything else going on in your life.

Solution: Create a visual reminder like a money jar or piggy bank to help you remember setting aside money every week. You can also do the challenge with friends and family to hold each other accountable.

  • Being Strict with Self-Control

It can be hard to exercise self-control. That’s true in the case where money is involved. When you find yourself needing a small sum of money, you may get tempted to remove a few Dhirams from your savings.

Solution: If you put your money in a checking account, get rid of a debit card, making it hard to spend. You can also deposit the money in an interest-earning saving account.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to saving money, many people struggle to get started and stick to the plan. Others don’t know how to set aside savings while managing the rest of the financial obligations.

Start the 52-week money challenge if you need to kickstart your savings, start building an emergency fund, or inculcate a savings habit.