JOE Brierley found himself in £6,000 worth of debt in his early 20s.
The now 31-year-old learning consultant has managed to clear the money he owed, and it’s in part thanks to a simple penny savings challenge.
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He had to take a hard look at his finances when he decided it was time to buy a place of his own, The Mirror reports.
To get back on track, Joe used the 1p savings challenge to help clear some of his debt.
He also made use of features on his Monzo account that told him where he was spending the most so he could look at cutting back.
This meant less trips to the club and clamping down on takeaways, clothes and more.
The 1p savings challenge was an easy way to see his funds add back up again though.
It works by allowing you to gradually save everyday – in small increments that won’t hurt your wallet, especially at first.
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That’s because it starts from just 1p: so on day one you add just a penny to a savings account, and on day two you add 2p, then day three it’s 3p, and so on.
Plenty have had success with the same method in the past – one family managed to pay for their Christmas holiday trips after a whole year spent saving with the method.
The 1p savings challenge could help you save up to £670 if you stick to it for the full year.
But in total, it took Joe around two-and-a-half years to finish paying off all of his debt, so he still had a long way to go on top of the savings challenge to clear what he owed.
“I was in £3,000 worth of debt straight after university” Joe told The Mirror.
By the time he was 21 and finished his studies, he had already maxed out his student overdraft, worth £2,000 and a student credit card that reached £1,000.
Joe got into a further £2,000 of debt when he found himself renting alone, and the final £1,000 blow came when he started using his credit card to fund personal training sessions.
Joe said: “At the time, ignorance was bliss. As long as I was paying the minimum payments, it was almost like it wasn’t real money.”
The quirky savings challenges and better management of his money helped him get back on top of his spends though.
Joe also opted for another savings method on his Monzo account that meant every time the temperature fell below 10C, £2 would enter his account.
Others have tried similar methods before – like one TikToker who added £2 to her savings account every time it rained – with the unpredictable British weather being a great help in quickly raising funds.
Different schemes will work best for different people depending on their circumstances – but the idea of any challenge is to make saving money more manageable.
Other ways to easily save money
There are plenty of novel and and successful ways to quickly tot up your spends.
They don’t have to take quite as long as a year to see results – one challenge involves 100 envelopes and can save you as much as £5,050 in just 100 days.
You need 100 envelopes, each marked 1 to 100, and you pick them out of a box at random, popping the amount of cash it specifies inside.
So if the envelope is marked with 10, you place £10 inside.
Cash stuffing is another budgeting technique that can help people save up.
It’s different from the other challenges as there’s no set target or amount you have to set aside each day.
Instead you pop what cash you have to spare into envelopes split into different categories of savings goals like holidays, eating out and clothes shopping.
How to get help with debt
Charities run free helplines that you can access if you’re struggling.
Citizens Advice is one that you can contact on 0800 144 8848.
You can also try getting in touch with StepChange (0800 138 1111), or National Debtline (0808 808 4000).
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