I came across a pretty novel idea recently when it comes to saving money the easy way. Well, it came across my Facebook feed, and I looked at it. Now, I’m taking it, improving it, and sharing it with you.

Regardless, the idea is pretty simple and has the correct premise overall. It’s called the “52 Week Money Challenge.” This has been floating around the internet for a while. If I recall correctly, I want to say that this hit my email at least a couple of times over the last however many years. I’m sure you may have seen this too.

Anyway, the idea is that there are 52 weeks in a year. For each week, you set aside the dollar amount that correlates with the given week. This is way too easy.

For example Week 1, you put a dollar aside. Week 2, you put a couple of dollars aside. Of course, by the time you get to week 40, you are putting forty dollars aside, but this little game has two hidden beauties. 1) you are going to get all the money on the back end (plus a little interest) and 2) the most you are going to put aside in one month comes in the final weeks.

If you do not cheat, you will have at least $1,378 at the end of the year. At the very least, it’s an easy way to put aside some money for Christmas or to do something more responsible with it, like trade it in for silver or ammo.

The downside is that this final month will probably be the month you’ll want that money the most. Another downside is that this last month (weeks 49 through 52), you will have to set aside $202 in total. This will probably be hard for some to do, considering the holidays. Plus, if the point of your saving was for the holidays, it’s counterproductive to put that money aside if you’re going to pull it anyway.

As I said, this is a fantastic little game to play with yourself. However, I think it can be improved upon. Logically speaking, we know a couple of basic things about the year and finances. 1) Most get their tax returns towards the beginning of the year, and 2) finances get more strained the closer you get to the holidays.

So why not do this little game backward? If you started week one, putting in $52, week two with $51, week three with $50, and so on, you work your way down in monthly obligation. Also, you would take advantage of the compounded interest the bank would provide, and the game gets easier instead of more challenging as you go, which would more than likely encourage you to stick with it longer.

Here is the best part; instead of putting in $202 at the end of the year, you are only forced to put in $10. So if you were in a position where you needed to pull that money, you’ve done yourself a favor by saving more on the front end. The money you would end up with would actually be greater than if you did it the way the original game suggested.

Just something to consider. I think the game is excellent, but it will be even better with the tips I have provided here! Saving money the easy way. Fun!

Enjoy!