52 Week Money Challenge - Week 13 - Week 18 Catching Up

This week is a catch up week for me. Sometimes things come up...but we can always catch to our challenge.  Sometimes these are the events that discourage us and throw us off our goals. Getting back in the habit of doing something regularly is hard...there's no other way to describe it. Once you start building that habit you forget about all the reasons why you couldn't do it anyway. You start remembering the excuses that helped you not start in the first place. But, the good news is...you can start again.

Start again. That simple. So...

This week I am transferring $93 into my travel savings account to catch up to the $171 total for week 18. Now, I am caught up with the rest of you. Next, I need to keep rebuilding the habit of depositing my challenge money each week.

Challenge Total Week 18 = $171.00 

Saving money is hard. It takes discipline and self-control to stick with the plan you developed.  This year why not make it easy on yourself?

I am a huge fan of ING (ING has been bought by Capital One and will become Capital One 360. Doesn't look like much will change...). ING lets you automate your savings so you don't have to think about it. The greatest feature is that it takes a couple days to get money transferred back to your checking account. There are a couple ways around this, but not being able to touch the money in your ING accounts is great for medium/long term savings goals.

If you have an ING, or other savings account, simply automate your savings transfers each month according to the chart below and watch the money stack up.

If you don't have a savings account, GET ONE! Not just for this challenge but everyone needs at least one savings account - with an Emergency Fund.

This week 18 should be transferred to your savings account. We are up to $171.00 this year. Things from this point on will start to grow pretty quickly. How are you doing? Any savings light bulbs going off? Have you planned what you are going to do with the money at the end of the year?

Keep Up the Good Work!