2023 is almost here and it’s sure to be a banger just like the past three years.
We are continuing the 22 in 2022 challenges but have slightly adjusted the goal post for a new year - by $1!
Save $23 per week or $23 per month (whichever makes the most sense to you.)
If saving $23 per week or per month is easy for you, please check out one of the other challenges ALL get the same sticker, but the threads will have people at similar income/challenge levels.
If you are able to attempt the harder challenges you may not join this challenge! But if you push yourself to try the 23% and life happens and you drop out of a bigger challenge I will welcome you with a big hug (credit to @Elle for that paragraph).
Basic rules:
The goal is to save $23 per week or month!
You can have a makeup month if you need it because life is hard.
If your income is not in USD, you can choose to save 23 in your currency (i.e. €23, $23 CAD, $23 AUD) OR save the equivalent to $22 USD (i.e. currently €21.65, $31.25 CAD or $34.09 AUD). Just state the path you’re choosing!
You can combine any type of savings: emergency fund, investing, debt repayment - to reach your goal.
You can choose household or individual savings, whichever you prefer.
What do you get:
Support on this thread as you go along - post weekly, monthly or quarterly check-ins as appropriate
A forum badge when you complete your goal for the year
A sticker mailed to you for participating towards your goal for the year
A shoutout on the podcast or livestream for reaching your goal
Please Tag @anomalily when you hit any goals so we can get you your badge!
Here’s 2021 and 2022’s slightly unhinged stickers:
Welcome! Around here “savings” also includes debt payoff, if that changes the calculus of which challenge you join. And you can start here but if you find yourself saving a bigger percentage of you income you’re welcome to hop over to the save 23% challenge.
From the save 23% thread
What Counts
Debt repayment counts towards your savings rate!
Mortgage principal (but not interest or escrow) counts.
Only savings that occurs between 1/1/2023 and 12/31/2023 count.
You can use tax refund or any other windfall money towards your savings percentage, but you then must count that windfall towards your overall income.
You can choose to count your income and savings jointly with a partner or separately - up to you!
Biden student loan forgiveness counts but only if you also count it in your gross income.
I’m in! Will save $23/week in my currency’s equivalent but maybe fixed at 1300/week for the whole year based on today’s conversion because exchange rates were super high last year.
I’m paying off a mortgage but I’ll have to dig into savings soon if I don’t have income coming in. I’m working on figuring out where I’ll put savings for this challenge. If it’s at the same bank as my checking I’ll use it all.
For now 1/6 - $25 cash (now I just don’t need to use it!)
Unfortunately, I’m still unemployed so savings has not been on my mind. I’m trying to minimize the amount I take out from my savings as much as possible. I’ve been doing a lot of interviews since early March; the hiring process just takes so long.
Specifically I think we can manage $23 per week per adult. (We are two.) So a total of $46/week.
I was going monthly. Through the end of April there were 17 weeks in the year so far.
Minus what I took OUT of savings to future-proof my electrical panel and get a heat pump water heater, I have saved $1197, or an average of $70 per week. So far so good!
I like that number a lot better than aiming for 23% of our income and landing at 2.7% so far . This is going to be more of a “hanging in there” year and that is fine and expected for our current situation.
I get paid every other week but the Boy is monthly, so I tend to do finances monthly.
Through the start of July I believe there had been 27 weeks. Minus HSA withdrawals that we have taken OUT of savings, we are at 3041 saved for the year (393 for the month of June).
3041/27 = about $113 per week on average. There are 5 people in our household. My official goal is the $23 per week per earner, or $46/week total, BUT my stretch goal is $23 per week per person.
I’m at $22.52 per person per week. Not bad! And I just got a raise and we already paid off the new water heater (which came with an electrical panel upgrade so was like twelve grand up front with rebates to come later), so we should be in good shape for the rest of the year, God willing and the creek don’t rise!
I’m liking this thread because it makes me feel more successful as a family of 5 with two adults working only 50 hours a week between us- we are grotesquely wealthy by world standards but pretty short of cash by the standards of middle-class people in a HCOLA.
August check in!
August savings: $376, divided by 4 weeks is $94 per week. That is $23 per week for 4 of the 5 members of our household!
It felt like we were just bleeding money in August (spent more than our take-home pay) so it’s nice to see that actually we put ourselves forward a smidge.
YTD savings: $3646, divided by 35 weeks is $104 per week or $20.83 per week per family member.
(edited for serious arithmetic error in the YTD) Belated September check in!
There were 5 weeks in September and we saved $2211 (including employer contributions), or an average of $88 per person (5 person household) per week. So a very successful month by this calculation! No HSA withdrawals and we aren’t in the red on YNAB this month!
YTD savings is 8907 or $44 per person per week.
Maybe I need a do-your-own challenge for 2024- the percentage is too hard but this one is too “easy.” Any suggestions? Maybe I could do a goal of $2024 in savings per month? (This was a high month for savings because I got 3 paychecks.) I dunno, our health insurance premiums are going up by like five hundred dollars a month so that might be out of reach…
. This is going to be more of a “hanging in there” year and that is fine and expected for our current situation.