Fast Track Savings Challenge – Tips to Boost Your Savings Fast!
Okay Ladies – we’re not messing around!
No whining.
No excuses.
No tears.
If you’re serious about saving money this is the place to be. (If you haven’t joined yet, click here to join the Fast Track Savings Challenge and enter to win $50 PayPal cash.)
Today we’re getting started with our plan by taking these steps:
1. Set a goal.
The first step in our Fast Track Saving Challenge is to set a specific dollar amount that you hope to add to your savings. In honor of the “Go Big or Go Home” philosophy I’m going to set a goal that I don’t think I can achieve based on our current income and expenses – $500 during the month of September. I am choosing a higher amount to motivate myself to actually take action instead of just talking about it.
2. Write it down.
Once you (and your husband if you’re married) have decided on a dollar amount, write down the amount as well as what you are saving for and place it in a prominent location. I made a poster to hang on the wall over our desk and a piece of paper to stick on our fridge. Keeping that savings goal in our sight will help to motivate us and remind us not to spend any extra money.
3. Designate a savings location.
Once you decide an amount to save you need to choose where you will put the money. Do you have a savings account you want to add to? a vacation jar? an envelope in your sock drawer?
Having a physical location for the money will give you another psychological boost and a visual cue to motivate you to see some change (pun intended!).
We have an envelope at home and then we will add the money to our savings account once a week.
4. Be honest about your spending weakness.
Here is where the rubber hits the road as they say: it’s time to get honest about your spending habits. Where do you spend money for items that you don’t need? What are your impulse purchases?
I’ll be sharing plenty of ideas that you can try this month but this step involves what we will NOT be doing. Decide right now that you will avoid these budget leaks and put any extra money you have toward your savings goal.
My weaknesses are:
- going through the drive-through because I haven’t planned ahead
- purchasing art supplies because I want them
- impulse purchases when I shop at stores like Walmart or Target (Dollar Spot!)
- ice cream
There is nothing inherently wrong with spending on these items but if I want to be serious about saving I need to stop these leaks. I’ll be sharing some specific tips later this week to help with those budget busters.
Your assignment today is to print and complete the Fast Track Savings Worksheet and to choose a location for your savings.
Click here for the download page.
In the meantime, if you’re in, leave a comment with your goal and/or your spending weakness and what you are going to do about it for the next 30 days.
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I set a goal of $400. for Christmas. I have started making tea in the morning to bring to work not stopping at the coffee shop. Also making my lunch 4 out of 5 days. I feel good about this
Sounds like a great plan. Thanks for joining us!
I am going to try for $75. We are just getting settled in a new town, and My husband is working odd and end jobs until he gets the job that will get us settled. So I am shooting lower for this challenge to ensure I can do it, then will use many of these steps again in the near future to save again with a bigger goal. My weakness is $1 sodas and not shopping with a list. I plan/have to change that.
You can resist! 🙂
That’s great Emily – and you should be able to save even more once you keep track of your spending. You can do this!
Sounds like a great plan Melissa. 🙂
I am saving $300.00 for christmas. Eating more at home, keeping to a list when I go to the store, using coupons on items I buy should all help.
You can do it Wendy! Try packing your lunches in the evening right after dinner to see if that helps. 🙂
My goal is $300. I impulse buy at the grocery store,and of course the dollar stores!!! Also buying lunch for at work instead of packing. I’m going to try to move soon and could use the money for the move or for Christmas.
I know what you mean. It’s difficult to stick to the list sometimes.
My goal is $500. I am a big impulse shopper when I am at the grocery store… meaning I have a tendency to stray from my list because something looks good or seems to be a good deal. I am also really bad when checking out because the candy looks so good 😉 I’m excited to do this!
You are so smart to spend time with your children while they are little Sarah – you won’t regret it.
We can do this!
My major weakness, like yours, is going through the drive through. My goal is $700.
I want to save $200. I just left my primary occupation and am working some more for my secondary ‘fun’ job. I have three children and cannot afford child care, plus I’d rather spend more time with them while they are young. I have a terrible time with impulse buying, fast food, anything on clearance, and stuff for the baby.
Welcome Katherine!
You are very welcome Kathy! That sounds like a great project.
Thanks so much Kimberlee, for the savings worksheet! It will be a great help having it right in front of us everyday! We are going to save $200 for treated plywood flooring for my hubbys workshop. We are just finishing up a small deck in front of the workshop, which we got the wood for free at a trailer park that was disposing of used decking boards! We are excited to get this all fixed up so he can now actually work in there! Your challenge came at the right time to help motivate us!! Can’t wait for your next assignment!
$500 so I can have a deposit ready for a new place.
How wonderful that people are helping you with meals. Congratulations on your new little bundle of joy!
Great plan Rachel – it’s so important to stay on top of the checkbook.
I love that you are saving in order to help someone else. So awesome Debby!
Awesome! Thanks for joining in Theresa!
You can do it! Thanks for joining in Lorna!
I know exactly what you mean Lisa! I purchased some light bulbs on clearance. They were not a current need but it was too hard to resist the super low price. Back on track this week though because I’m not gong in the store – haha!
My goal is $180. The plan is to set this aside now in order to help pay for a trip to visit family over Thanksgiving.
I am setting a goal of $500. I actually have a grocery weakness, any sale item weakness and a low level hoarding weakness. I plan to use “Less is More” as my motto this month and focus on asking myself “Do I really NEED this item. This week I already spent $28 dollars at Walmart on Clearance items when I only needed to purchase a $9 item. This was partially because I didn’t go to the grocery store for my NEEDS over the weekend and had to make a quick trip to the store because I was out of a “can’t do without” item!
My goal is $100 for the month of Sept. I am saving this to show myself that I can do this. My weaknesses are fast food, make up and impulse buys (like candy, etc.) These are the areas I will watch for this month.
My spending weakness is convienence food when grocery shopping and also drivethru $1 soda. The goal for September is $250– we have a bit of an advantage with the goal this month because our church is bringing us baby meals twice a week for the month, which will definitely help our grocery bill.
I want to have at least $400 to help an extended family member buy needed medication which they cannot afford. ( unemployed ) I can do this by buying very few groceries for the rest of the month. Probably just milk and some fresh fruit.
We have a very full refrigerator/freezer right now and I think I can make it work. If it is >$400, any extra will go into the emergency fund. One exception I may allow myself to make : a bushel of apples for canning. (That may wait until October anyway.)
My goal is not to save a certain amount, but to go over our checkbook and bills every week when my husband gets paid. We have a good budget in place, but for the last couple of weeks, I haven’t been keeping track of the bills going out, taking out the cash we need, and transferring what I should to savings. I will be more on top of things this month!
My goal is $500. I have a budget of $150 every two weeks for groceries, which includes household and personal items, and it’s pretty easy some months to stay within that due to couponing. We don’t eat out a lot. But with school lunches, food to make lunches for school, one playing football, one playing baseball, my husband just doesn’t make a ton of money (law enforcement), it gets so tight. I guess my biggest weakness is coffee from the local gas station after my 5:00 a.m. workouts…though it’s only $1.69 per cup…
Thanks for joining us. Sounds tight but I believe in you. 🙂
My goal is $700. Which is $200 more than what I usually save each month. My fiancé and I eat out ALOT. And we usually order drinks, and appetizers, and sometimes the more expensive entrées on the menu. So, I’m going to cut back on eating out and/or what I choose when I do eat out. The $500 goes to our weddings savings while the extra $200 towards paying off our Discover bill.
That sounds like a very do-able plan – and congrats on your upcoming wedding Laura!
I’m in! My goal is $500 this month. In February, I would like to visit my sister and her husband who winter in Arizona and this amount of money should cover airfare and out-of-pocket expenses while there. My weaknesses include the dollar store, Savers/Goodwill and shopping online. I plan on not doing any of those things this months. Also have some items to put up on eBay and craigslist to generate some additional income. Thanks for the challenge 🙂
I TOTALLY Get it Melissa! I have to make super simple meals and start dinner prep in the morning or dinner doesn’t get done. Hang in there – you can do this! 🙂
I’m in! My goal is $500 this month. In February, I would like to visit my sister and her husband who winter in Arizona and this amount of money should cover airfare and out-of-pocket expenses while there. My weaknesses include the dollar store, Savers/Goodwill and shopping online. I plan on not doing any of those things this months. Also have some items to put up on eBay and craigslist to generate some additional income. Thanks for the challenge 🙂
We can do this Eileen!
Our goal is $500 and our weakness is eating out! After along day of homeschooling three kids and trying to keep the house in a somewhat acceptable state the last thing (some days) I want to do is go into the kitchen and create a huge mess of dirty dishes that I will just have to clean up either that night or (more likely) in the morning. So we eat out! Even though I have spent quite a bit on food already at the grocery store! There are times I think that I should just skip the grocery store and plan on eating out all week!
I TOTALLY Get it Melissa! I have to make super simple meals and start dinner prep in the morning or dinner doesn’t get done. Hang in there – you can do this! 🙂
My/our weakness is eating out. We have our meal plan set out for the month and am hoping at the end we have an extra 100 bucks from not eating out…
Sounds like a great plan Mellie!
My/our weakness is eating out. We have our meal plan set out for the month and am hoping at the end we have an extra 100 bucks from not eating out…
Sounds like a great plan Mellie!
Thanks for this!
Thanks for this!
My goal is $400. My spouse is too overwhelmed with work to think about this right now, so I’m going to try to do $400 on my own. The money will be for building my blog and my tutoring business (TWO endeavors piled on top of my day job and parenting, but I can’t seem to let go of either one of them). My weaknesses are food, food, food, and food– especially at lunchtime, mainly due to lack of planning. Some other impulse buys, too, and late fees for not getting around to taking care of the family finances. I have actually started with a new tutoring student after a long hiatus, so I will have some income from that to reinvest; the savings challenge will help keep me from buying convenience food instead of planning around my schedule.
I love that you are earning extra income Emily – that will help alot!
I have saved $219 so far, but I feel like that is only coming from extra work– not from better stewardship of my usual resources. Trying to recommit for the rest of the month.
Goal: $100
We have several big bills to pay off, and I need a new-to-me vehicle since I totaled mine last month. My Hubbs is starting a new job on Monday that will take more gas money, but save us at least $200/month in insurance. Actually, more than that, since those benefits won’t kick in for 90 days! The hardest part will be convincing him we need to stash away this $100 instead of just throwing it at another bill.
Our weaknesses are ice cream, eating out when running errands instead of packing something along, and beer. We indulge ourselves with treats more than we should. I’m going to suggest we cut back on the ice cream and beer, and work harder at keeping snacks with me in the car.
My goal is $200.00
I am saving for paying off the credit card first and foremost. Then I want to start paying down the mortgage even further. I’ve been paying extra towards the principle; but would like to pay off the place within 2 – 3 years at the most.
Actually I don’t spend a lot since little extra, but my younger sister is a clothes horse and she gave me clothes with tags still on. They don’t fit me, but I plan on taking photos and posting on facebook (local), in laundromats, stores, etc. and may even try Swapdom if I can get gift cards to Walmart or Menards in place of some of these clothes. Walmart for food and Menards for waterproofing basement and paint for the house. This way no money coming out of my pockets.
My goal is $600.00
We have two birthdays in October and a birthday in Dec. so I would like to be prepared for all the expenses that are coming with all of that and holidays.
We are going to need to focus on not going out to eat so much and just going and spending money cause we are bored. It will be a challenge but challenges can usually be fun if you allow it.
My goal is $750 for Christmas. My husband was recently diagnosed with cancer but I don’t want that to stop my children from enjoying a nice Christmas. For me it will be not stopping for breakfast at a drive thru in the morning and really working my online business without using that money earned just for things I want but don’t need
My goal is $400.
Our 6 years old digital camera is not working properly any more and so we need to purchase a new one before the birthdays and Christmas coming up.
My weaknesses are eating out, buying snacks, and buying craft supplies.
I will meal plan and cook kids’ snacks ahead. I will also refrain from buying any more craft supplies during this challenge.
I am in! Can’t wait for this challenge! I am in hopes of being surprised at how much I can save in a month’s time. My goal is to tuck aside $200.00. Let’s go!
My goal is to save 15% of our “working capital” (money we live on for everything outside of mortgage – utilities, groceries, and extraneous). We have $1,850 for this month’s expenses. I would like to save $277.50. This will help us get used to less money in the upcoming months. (Note: this represents DH’s last regular paycheck, incoming funds will be far more diminished). My weakness: The feeling that if I don’t take advantage of *this* sale it will never happen again. For example: Spend $30 on toilet paper and paper towels at CVS and get $5 ECB. Also running into Hobby Lobby for seasonal decorations (even if it 50% off of $5.00). I will love what I have for seasonal decorations. If I don’t, I may repurpose with paint that I already have, or simply pass on.
My goal is to save 500.00 this month. My weaknesses are poor planning, online purchases, and spending when depressed. I will get on top of my depression and remember that I am saving for our retirement.
Goal: $500
My weaknesses are: cosmetics, skincare, kindle books, iTunes music, and prepared foods at Whole Foods (I know – I need to plan better.)
I’m going to put it into a savings account.
Hi! This is Maha from India. Great boost & plan!
I have been striving to save money since Jan ’14 however not able to be consistent through out the month. Participating here would be helpful and best opportunity for my goal.
My goal is to save $ 84 this month (actually Rs 5000 Indian value).
My weakness (just that i am lazy),
– snacking at cafeteria
– buying dinner
– spending on commute
(this morning i spent on commute being late by 3 min)
Taking vow to plan ahead (prepping for snack and dinner which will directly have positive impact on commute).
I wish i save money as well get organized participating here!
Thanks!
I plan on saving $400 this month. Getting married in December and would like to take that money and use if for our wedding. I do a lot of impulse buying especially at the dollar store. I just go in there and start buying things. Holiday times are the worst!! Also me and my fiance tend to be last and eat out instead of cooking what we have. McDonalds here and there and Applebee’s.
I will make a commitment to stay away from the dollar store and stores alone unless its for groceries only! I will plan ahead dinner for a week so.we can’t get lazy and I will put notes throughout my home to remind me of these things and to make sure our savings is being put into a safe spot so it’s not being spent. Only money used will.be for bills only!
My goal this month is $500. $300 for a vacation sinking fund and $200 for wedding expenses. My sister is getting married next month. Should have started sooner as I am Co – hosting the shower and bachelorette party. Spending weakness is eating out and spontaneous, unplanned purchases. We follow Dave Ramsey and are on Baby Step 2 but got a bit derailed over the summer. Back on track!
Awesome Maha – Thanks for following all the way from India!
My goal is to “save” money by paying $500 on our Discover card debt. The interest on it is insane!!! One of my weaknesses is Sonic’s Morning Drink Stop & Happy Hour. Sometimes I’ll go thru the drive thru twice in one day just for the caffeine and the yummy ice!! Crazy!! I’ve got to get back to drinking only water! Here’s committing to just one Sonic stop per week for this whole month…I think I can… I think I can…
My goal: Save 300 eur (I’m in Europe) for: 1) house refreshing; 2) car. My weaknesses are: 1) cheap clothes , bags, shoes and accessories from thrift stores 😀 2) impulsive snacks after work, when I have to spend 1-1,5 hour to get home. Then I have to take more food from home to be not hungry after work.
My goal for the month is $350. It is one step closer to taking our kids to see their grandfather on the otherside of the country next summer. My weakness is Starbucks and eating out on those busy days plus small decorating items for the house that add up over the month.
My 11-year-old is also doing the challenge. His overall goal is to save $200 more to buy an iPad mini 32GB. He missed out on an opportunity to get it discounted by $140 because he didn’t have enough money saved. He continues to get distracted from his goal and buys books $30 (a great educational item but could have borrowed them from the library) or more recently he wanted to buy the PC version of Minecraft $27. My husband and I said these smaller items take away from your overall goal and you have other FREE options available to you that you don’t need to purchase these things. So we encouraged him to do the challenge and put his pledge up next to ours.
I love it! Great parenting Kim!
My goal is to save $165. It sounds small, but it’ll be really tough to do for us. Our emergency savings was wiped out with a car repair and I’m trying to build it up again. $165 will get us to $300 total.
My biggest spending weakness is buying pricey groceries and justifying it because they are healthier…which isn’t bad, but I end up buying too many, and some of it (the produce) doesn’t always get eaten.
Another weakness: donating to charities. I can’t help it, someone on FB posts a sweet plea, and I HAVE to donate. I’ve racked up credit card debt doing this!
Test 2
Thanks!
My goal is to save $300. My goal is to eat more out of the freezer(meat especially) and also out of what we have in the pantry. Also when shopping, I am going to stick to my list and continue using cash only!
My goal is $400–I think I can do it, but it will be a challenge (the name of the game, right?!) We actually have an adequate income, but I struggle (a lot) with spending carefully and having any leftover.
In order to achieve this goal I’m vowing to: stay out of fabric stores, avoid fast food like the plague and cut out trips to our local drive through (for sodas, cookies, etc.) This challenge may affect my waistline, too!
Thanks!
Great plan Chantie!
My goal is $200 this month. We took a pay cut this month and are in the process of saving up for a new (to us) vehicle in 2015. This will help to kick-start our vehicle savings that we have been talking about for months.
My weakness is the dollar bins at Target, Sonic half-price drinks, & Sam’s shopping center. Less time at these places will help me save more!
Thanks for sharing your goal Khakki. You can do it.
My goal this week is $200 dollars that I would like to save for family pictures. To acheive this goal so far I’ve made my budget and I have to stick to it. Weakness are drive-thrus when I didn’t plan well, craft supplies I don’t really need and cute children’s clothing. I am very very proud of myself for going grocery shopping yesterday. I typically plan my menus per month and do one big trip. Well, I have been sick with sinuses so planning the monthly menu didn’t happen. But I knew if I planned nothing we would eat out so I made a list of milk, bread, and eggs and the ingredients for 5 crockpot meals to last this week while I don’t feel good. That should help us stay out of the drive thrus!
Week! Ha. Month.
Good for you Becca for planning when you don’t feel well!
I plan to save $350 Sept., Oct., & Nov. to buy gift cards for family at Christmas. My addition is fabric & quilting tools. I’m a quilter who can’t resist fabric or tools to make quilting easier. Those “daily deals” from Missouri Star Quilting are hard to resist, but I will take up the challenge.
My goal is to have $200.
My weakness is also eating out. I probably will meet my goal just by not eating out!
Thanks for sharing your goal Robin. We can do this!
You can resist Patricia. 🙂
My goal is to save $200 in these 30 days.
I have really been wanting to take a trip somewhere to get away from stress at work.
My commitment is to eat what I have cooked & not eat fast food or junk food just because I’m stressed. It doesn’t get rid of the stress anyway, it just makes it worse. I have already bought & cooked my food for the week.
I will put it in my savings account and start planning where to go. That will help me get more motivated.
Good for you for cooking all your food ahead of time Charla! Awesome!
Our goal for the month of September is $250.
My weaknesses are drive-thrus, kindle books, and junk food.
My husband’s job cut hours company wide this month so it’s going to be a challenge for sure.
Sorry that your husband’s hours were cut, but good for you for being proactive Amanda!
My goal is $500 too. It’s marching band season for my high schooler, and I usually spend carelessly at competitions (snack bars, commemorative t-shirts, etc.) and at the grocery store when I run in for “just one more thing.” So this month I’ll plan meals better so I only step foot in the store once a week, and will pack a cooler for football games and competitions!
Packing the cooler is a terrific idea Kirsten. Great plan!
My goal is to save $300 toward our 10 year anniversary celebration.
It will be a challenge.
My weaknesses: coffee and sweets during that time of month, take out because we didn’t take out food from the freezer, treating the guys on $3.50 cupcakes just because.
To combat this I will start prepping for my cycle through eating good foods and leave my debit card at home this month.
I will set a reminder to take out something from the freezer and I will reward the guys with kind words and acts of kindness.
I have no idea how I’m going to save/make $300 but it can and will happen.
We can do this!
My goal is $800. I may not be working my part time job after November and we have a credit card to pay off before that happens.i sure hope I can do this!
Good for you for setting a huge goal Tara. Go for it!
My goal is to save $200 this month. My weaknesses are impulse purchases of books and yarn. Also going out to lunch with co workers. My plan is to bring lunch 4 days a week and pick one day to be social. Also, no new books until I read what I have and no new yarn until current WIP projects are finished.
I love that you are allowing yourself one day to have fun Mary. It’s good to make your plan work for you.
Goal: $100 to rebuild my emergency fund. Right now we are living paycheck to paycheck so this seems like a pretty lofty goal. We have been getting by on so little that I haven’t even had enough to splurge on anything extra. DH tends to be the spender, but he has promised to help me by avoiding the vending machines at work. My biggest weakness is my grocery budget but I have a weekly goal for that in mind and plan to stick to it.
Hi Kimberly,
I’m so excited for this! My goal is to save $500.00.
I have to share I already have a jump start my husband got a
bonus at work and I put it away and won’t cash the
check so I’m not tempted to spend it…
My weakness is eating out..
That’s awesome Maggie! Yay for jump starts!
I’ll be spending less on groceries too Wendy. We can do this!
I want to save $600 this month.
We are moving to a new home in the next few weeks and I will need to do some painting and renovations.
My weakness is lunchtime. I forget to bring a lunch to work so I will eat out instead. I am going to being my lunch from home all month.
Smart plan Jill. 🙂
My goal is to save $500. My sister and I inherited our parents lake house and I’ll need to do some serious saving to keep 2 houses running! My weaknesses are spending on things I “might” need, but usually don’t (extra school supplies, organizing bins, anything in the Dollar Spot in Target!). I plan to only buy groceries this month and nothing else.
Great plan Jenn!
My goal is to save $100 between now and October 20. That may not seem like a lot, but we are currently living off my teacher salary and I wanted to start with something somewhat doable so that I would not get discouraged and quit trying to save money.
My husband and I are wanting to take a trip the week of October 20 but I’ve really been skeptical if we can afford to go anywhere by that time. Committing to saving whatever I can will not only help us get to go somewhere, but will show me how to avoid unnecessary spending in general so that we do have more for better things than the food, shoes, and clothing impulses purchases I tend to make.
You are wise to choose a goal that you can reach Heather. Thanks for sharing your plan. You can do this!
Kimberly, Before sharing my goal, first things first 🙂 I love your new picture! your hair looks fabulous. Goal is to save $500.00, although Sept is expensive with school taxes due eeek. I haven’t been strict enough with my budget! Thank you for this challenge!
Thanks Zoey! I’m glad to help. 🙂
Goal:$100
This is alot for us! We live paycheck to paycheck and very seldom have any “extra”.
My weaknesses are the little extras in Walmart( I just need a new workout top right?!, Dollar Tea at McDonalds, and Redbox Movies (their only a $1 but then we never have time to watch them or we return them late…it adds up!)
My goal: Stick to the list when shopping, no drive thru for 30 days, and have our family focus more time outside than TV and movies.
Great plan Maggie- you can do it!
My goal is to stash away an extra $400 this month by cutting down on restaurant trips and by meal planning around what I have in my freezer and cupboards. I’m also a sucker for end of season sales (for things I don’t really need) so I plan to only buy my groceries from grocery stores and avoid the super centres/costco for the month. Will be a challenge for me:)
Smart plan to stay out of the super stores Heather!
Goal $500
Weaknesses: Eating out, weekly candy splurges and several $5.45 trips through McD’s for dollar drinks for 5.
I’m committed for the next 30 days to remind myself every day of this goal and stay away from the drive thru’s and candy aisle at walmart!
Awesome! We can do this Stacy!
I would like to save $200. I need to stop eating out and start using food in my refrigerator before it goes bad and I have to throw it away.
Terrific! Thanks for sharing your plan Ellen. 🙂
Goal = $500. My husband just started a new job last Monday. It came with a small pay cut, but the plusses far outweigh that. So, $500 is a lofty goal for this month as we adjust to the new paycheck amount, but I am determined!
Spending weaknesses: Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts – guess I need to turn off auto reload on my cards :), shopping for my daughter and granddaughter who live in Australia, fabric, anything my son asks for.
What am I going to do? Turn off the auto reload on my coffee cards, stay out of the quilt shops and fabric stores. H & A will be stateside in October, I wait til they get here to shop with them. My son actually starts a part time job on the 9th. So he can spend his own money.
Awesome Jennifer! You can do this!!!!
My goal is stay within our budget for the vacation we’re taking next week.
I’ve set aside a specific amount, but we always tend to go way over because “we’re on vacation!” Now I’ll make sure that we are careful and not over-indulgent.
Weaknesses for vacation are usually lots of junk food and too many souvenirs. I’ll monitor both and that should keep us on track!
Sounds like a great plan Roxanne!