As I always say, savings is the key to breaking through to a prosperous lifestyle so let’s challenge ourselves to start or improve our savings habits. For the last couple of years, I have challenged you to do the 52 Week Savings Challenge. But this year, I would like to introduce another savings challenge. It is called the 100 Envelope Savings Challenge. In this challenge you will decide how much you want to challenge yourself. My hope is that you decide to do all 100 Envelopes but if you are not up to that challenge, you can select your own challenge by deciding how many envelopes you will commit to fill. I think this challenge will be fun and it will give you great results according to your own expectations. I plan to do all 100 Envelopes and I invite you to join me and let me know how you have decided to challenge yourself? Please let me know when you reach your goal so that I can celebrate with you. There is no set time- line so you can go as fast or as slow as you wish. I personally prefer a timeline, so I plan to get as many envelopes completed in a month.
Here is how it will work. You need to purchase a box of 100 count envelopes. I went with the cheapest I could find because I figured every dollar I don’t spend on the envelopes, can go into my envelopes. I purchased #6 ¾, 100 count, envelopes at Walmart for 97 cents. This was great because other stores were charging anywhere between $5 to $8.99. I put labels on each envelope. For example: 10 envelopes would be labeled # 1 through #10; 20 envelopes would be labeled #1 through #20, etc. Your challenge is to fill each envelope with the dollar amount equal to the number on the envelope. For example: Envelope #1 = $1.00, Envelope #2 = $2.00, Envelope #50 = $50.00, Envelope #100 = $100. Be creative and place your completed envelopes in a bank, jar, box or any savings container you desire. When you have filled all the envelopes that you have challenged yourself to complete, the Challenge is over! Wherever you start in this challenge you should celebrate because you have increased your savings. You can use it however you choose.
Here is a chart to help you decide on your challenge level:
THE ENVELOPE SAVINGS CHALLENGE
NUMBER OF ENVELOPES TOTAL AMOUNT SAVED
10 $ 55
20 $ 210
30 $ 465
40 $ 820
50 $ 1,275
60 $ 1,830
70 $ 2,485
80 $ 3,240
90 $ 4,095
100 $ 5,050
My hope is that you commit to one of the Envelope Savings Challenges and see it through. This is a good way to shift your money mindset around saving money and live a prosperous life.