Why Take On The #52WeekChallenge?

Yesterday, I announced the #52WeekChallenge to such great response from twitter that I am blown away. Over 500 people responded saying they are taking it on, and the post has been shared countless times! Yay! You guys are awesome.

This follow up post seeks to explain my thinking around this challenge, and at the end, I will share a form for those that want to go big, that is start with 100 shillings instead of 50.

For those who took it on last year, this challenge served a number of functions:

1. It was a gentle introduction to savings and an easy way to form a saving habit for those who had not saved before.
2. It was a way to be more conscious of your day to day spending and to see areas where you can save a bit more. This was true for me. Though I have/had a savings plan in place, I still felt I spent a lot of money on unimportant things. My approach was to save upfront out of my weekly allowance, then survive on what remains. And it worked!
3. To save for a particular purpose, such as a holiday.  A number of my followers are saving towards a holiday this year too.

My approach this year will be similar to last year’s. I will save out of my living allowance every week, and any extra cash I get will go towards covering the final months that are quite heavy.

Last year, I did not have a purpose for the money, and I ended up spending some of it to top up my daughter’s school fees and I have KShs 22,000 still locked in my M Shwari account. This year, I want to invest the money. I will be looking to pick up a few stocks from the Nairobi Securities Exchange for cheap, and for the long-term. This is a small effort towards building my child’s university education fund.

What is your reason for doing this? Is this your first time saving? Let’s talk in the comments section, on Twitter using the hashtag #52WeekChallenge

Finally, for those that want to start with 100 bob, here is the worksheet.