How I Saved $700 with Just My Planner
(and a little bit of dedication to habit building)
It’s the end of December: the holiday season, the season of giving, the start of a new year and new goals — and for better or worse, that means that finances are front of mind for pretty much everyone in some capacity. When I look back on my 2023, one of the personal accomplishments I’m most proud of is putting away a pretty sizable chunk of money, something that’s been hard for me in the past couple of years since moving out on my own. I’ve read plenty of advice and tried plenty of services and products designed to help you save over the years, let me tell you. And now I feel confident to report that this method, combined with the habit building tools I’ve learned from Silk+Sonder, have been the winning combination. Ready to start building your savings? Let’s get into it:
Before I get into the nitty gritty what, let’s examine the why behind the method here. All of this is built around the same principles as goal setting. If you’ve ever set a New Year’s resolution and dropped off around mid-February, you probably know what I’m about to say: you won’t get very far without breaking up your ultimate goal into smaller, manageable steps with measurable milestones. This is especially true if you live with ADD or similar neuro-divergent tendencies, which makes it difficult to keep yourself on task or stay motivated over long periods of time. So how do you combat this mental block? By unlocking the ADD Superpower of gamifying the challenge, and giving yourself as many small hits of dopamine as often as possible. And that’s where a planner comes into play.
The trick is to break down your goal into as small and repeatable a piece as possible. Save $100 a month becomes save $25 a week, which in turn becomes save about $3.50 a day. Or, if you’re like me and need a little variety in order to stay interested and engaged, here is a handy guide:
Days 1-5: Save $1 (total $5)
Days 6-10: Save $2 (total $15)
Days 11-15: Save $3 (total $30)
Days 16-20: Save $4 (total $50)
Days: 21-30: Save $5 (total $100)
The other thing that this method does for my neuro-spicy brain is give me an active role in adding to my savings; I can’t check off the box in my planner until I open my banking app, make the transfer from checking to savings, and get to see the amount in my savings account increase. (If you can, I highly recommend seeking out a savings account that will show you a graph for this; I use AppleCard, and Acorns also displays one.)
And once you’ve established this as a habit and a daily routine? Go nuts! Try the challenge backwards, from $5 down to $1. If you feel like you can spare a little more into savings, add a $1 to each day. Down for a randomizer? I added this in December and I’m loving it. Grab a d10 from your stash (or hit up your fried who plays DnD) and give it a roll, then add that much to your base amount, ie, a roll of 5 adds 50cents. So far this month, I have saved an additional $10 over my usual goal. And it doesn’t have to be dice, there are so many fun possibilities here. Flip a coin to double your investment. Add an extra 50cents for rain and $1 for snow. Whatever your ultimate goal is, whatever small joy helps keep you motivated, find a way to incorporate it into your daily practice and you’ll find yourself that much more likely to keep at it.
Making my spread bright and colorful is another way I keep myself engaged in my daily habits.
Now I get it, this concept is not new. In fact, I originally found it on another blog dedicated to finances. And if you’ve been on TikTok recently, you’ve probably seen a similar challenge claiming to save you $5050… which is all well and good, if you have $100 to set aside all on one day, and the $99, $98, $97 etc. that lead up to that. Think about it: at what point would you find yourself having difficulty meeting the daily challenge amount? $50? $40? $20? If I’m being honest, that’s about where I’d start having trouble, and then 20ish days into the 100 day challenge I’d be dropping off and giving up. And while yes, I’d have saved a total of $210 in only 20 days, if I repeat the 30 day challenge 3 times, I not only stay consistent and maintain a positive view of my ability to save money, I also save a combined total of $300+. It takes longer, sure. But the key to building savings — to building any habit — is that consistency.
So, will you be taking on a savings goal in January and beyond? Let me know on Instagram, and if you’re looking for a template to get started on that and other healthy habits you can get your own Silk+Sonder journal using my affiliate link at the top of the page (I’ll get a small commission for sharing). And don’t forget to follow and stay tuned on social to see this practice in action!
Happy savings!