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Friday, January 2, 2015

30 Days Money Challenge

Didn't get to save much money last year? Have you ever thought how much you could actually save in a month or a year? 100? 1000? 10,000? Well, challenge yourself to find out! Let's start this new year with "30 Days Money Challenge"! I believe you have come across all sort of saving methods such as the 6 JARS System method and so on, but here's one that focus more on building the saving habit.

30 Days Money Challenge

30 Days Money Challenge
My Money Jar which using Cookie Jar, you can recycle after CNY!
Like the saying goes, "The habit of saving is far more important than the amount you saved". It's true! You can saved a thousand dollar this month but waste it on the next month. So 30 Days Money Challenge will help you to shape your saving habit! Good habits take discipline, courage and hard work to form on a daily basis. Consistent commitment is what makes a habit!  

So, in this simple 30 Days Money Challenge, all you need to do is to double the amount you deposited yesterday. Here's a table for better illustration:


Many people believe that by repeating a task for 21 days consecutively, a habit may be formed. It remains to be a myth on how the magic number 21 came around, but that's not important here. As you may see from the table, there are Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. These 3 phases are actually representing the process of a habit formation, which were developed by the well know business coach, Tom Bartow. I will just summarize here for you:

Phase 1: The Honeymoon
You may feel that it is easy to accomplish, you are highly motivated to kick start.
Everything just goes smoothly here.

Phase 2: The Fight Thru
Motivation and inspiration wear off. You started to struggle with yourself when reality kicks in.
This is the dilemma part where you will be wondering if you should stop or continue.

Phase 3: Second Nature
You have conquered your own thinking and behavior. The habit is formed!
BUT (yes there's always a but), beware of interruptions as you may back to Phase 2 again!

Ah-hah! So, that magic number 21 probably due to the 3 Phases with 7 days each? Anyhow in our case, the 30 Days Money Challenge will be 10 days each. That pretty much explains The Honeymoon phase where the starting is pretty easy with just 1 dollar and when it gets longer, you started to feel lazy or demotivated in the The Fight Thru phase.

Follow Strictly on Saving DAILY
It's crucial to follow strictly to save daily as 30 Days Money Challenge not just getting you the total sum at the end of 30 days, but more importantly, to build the saving habit! Even though these are just small amounts but they will eventually add up to a big difference. As you could see at the end of 30 days you will get up to 465 dollars! If you feel that 1 dollar saving increment is too easy, feel free to increase the saving increment.

What if I feel like stopping halfway thru?
It's completely normal to have that feeling when The Honeymoon phase is over. But here are few techniques to win over The Fight Thru phase. First, acknowledge or simply realize that you are entering into The Fight Thru phase. Next, remind yourself why have you started this. Simple questions such as "How will I feel if I accomplish this?" or "How will I feel if I just give up easily?". Lastly, relate to your life projection. "What can I do if I accomplished?" and "What my life will be if I stop now? Back to the square one?" Most importantly, come back to read this post again if you feel like giving up.

What's next after 30 Days?
Same as the tagline of YourFinanceDoctor - Earn, Save, Invest, Repeat. Don't be held back by the interruption in Phase 3: Second Nature, where you go easy on yourself after achieving 30 Days Money Challenge. For months with 31 days, take that 1 day as the so called "cheat-day" or I called it  the"reward day" (be more positive). So instead of saving that $32, you may use it to treat yourself. So, what's next? Repeat again from 1 dollar. Be it the same saving increment or you may up level to higher saving increment.

With that, I believe this is a SMART goal challenge where it is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and definitely time based.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Eager to kick start your 30 Days Money Challenge? Here's a downloadable PDF file for you to print out. In case, you want to alter the saving increment, here's the downloadable excel file for you as well.
PDF 30 Days Money Challenge - Starting with 1 Dollar (DOWNLOAD HERE)
Excel 30 Days Money Challenge (DOWNLOAD HERE)


Next up, I will be sharing on what you can do with that amount of money at the end of 30 days.
Feel free to share to your friend as a challenge for them too! 

24 comments:

  1. You know what, I'm gonna try this on March! (February too busy handing out ang pows....)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Elaira, thanks for visiting! wow! so fast you are thinking about February! haha
      Anyway happy new year! I guess i can take ang pau from you too ad! =p

      Delete
  2. Good to save for a rainy day...and for one's old age. Like me, at least, I get enough to get by and live quite comfortably.

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    Replies
    1. yup perhaps you can share how you make it! =D you know nowadays everything is so expensive! especially the houses in penang! TT

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  3. Replies
    1. try it out and let me know if you manage to form this habit ya! =D

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  4. thanks for sharing. grow money with a single and easy step.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yup everything starts with a small first step! ;)

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  5. i saw a blogger sharing 52 weeks money challenge. seems really interesting!!! gonna give it a try keke

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    Replies
    1. yuppp.. but personally I think 52 weeks method... 1 week save once... not sure if can really build the saving habit! =) anyway just my humble opinion! =D

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  6. May I know what is the different if I put in the total amount one short aside to save ? So I will still get to save more right ?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Alan,

      Yes you are right, there's no difference in the total amount.
      But as you could read from my post, this is not just about saving but also building the habits.
      At the same time when you are saving every day, you will be more cautious on spending, especially with our ringgit is weakening.

      Now this is just talking about saving for short term 30 days.
      If is 1 year, 3 years or even longer, then the number of period you save would be important.
      This is where the power of compounding interest would kicks in. ;)

      Happy Saving Alan!

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  7. Thank you for the tip Henry, very eager to start the challenge ASAP, very excited! :D

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    Replies
    1. You are most welcome Zureen! Well don't wait, start now! ;)

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  8. Wow! Great tips over there! I guess I should take up the challenge as well! :)

    Read on my latest blog post: Resolutions are bullshit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yup you should! I challenge you to form this habit! ;)

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  9. btw, NICE layout you have now! It's more neat and simple now! :)

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  10. Nice one... any tips for long term saving?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, new post is up! ;)
      http://yourfinancedoctor.blogspot.com/2015/05/start-invest-as-low-as-rm100-now.html

      Delete
  11. It's good to start saving when you start earning your allowance as a kid so that it becomes second nature when you start earning a salary

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