Image Credit: Kassondra Perry-Moreland (Image Source: Facebook.com)
Unless you spent your holiday vacation on Mars and just came home today, you’ve seen this graphic and maybe even wondered what it’s about.
Following up on my post from a couple of days ago about my New Year’s resolution to finally get my financial head screwed on straight, I printed off a copy of the Challenge Chart and made my Week 1 deposit of $1.00 into a BMO Club Sobeys Savings Account. The nature of the account is important, as not only am I saving money and eventually earning interest on my growing balance, but I’m on track to earn additional points towards free groceries as well. I would like to state now that neither BMO or Sobeys has any idea I am doing this and I am not being compensated for it.
Yesterday, I found out the “who” behind the “what” and the “how,” of this neat savings-based challenge and her name is Kassondra Perry-Moreland, a single mom from California. You can access her Facebook group for the 52 Week Money Challenge here; just click on the button to apply to be added.
How you do it, is up to you. I’ve become aware of people who decided to start the program and work it backwards, i.e., start off with the 52nd week dollar amount of $52 and come holiday time, not have the worry and stress of having to come up with anything more than a dollar or two to finish off the challenge.
The reward for me is $1,378.00 I more than likely wouldn’t otherwise have. Plus, the discipline involved in this type of exercise is as much, if not more, important than having a healthy bank balance that I can flip over into an investment product for my retirement. It’s also adaptable so that our kids can join in and learn about saving in a fun and relatively unrestricted manner. You can buy a sealed tin bank at any dollar store for them to use for their “deposits,” and since the only way to access the money involves cutting it open with a can opener, it becomes that much more difficult to dip into it and fall off the savings wagon.
I’d love to know if you will also be taking part! If I don’t see your comments below, maybe we’ll come across one another on the Facebook group?
Wow! Look at all the connections being made because one person cared to share. :)
I’m glad Kassondra’s Challenge has taken on a life of its own. She seems like a wonderful lady, too.