One of our fellow line dancers told us recently that she and her husband are about to start a 75-day challenge. For that entire month and a half, they will exercise for 90 minutes a day, follow a strict diet (Weight Watchers for her, “clean eating” for him), will drink a gallon of water every day, won’t drink alcohol, and will read at least 10 pages of non-fiction per day.

Wow. We’ll see how they do, but it got us thinking about money challenges – what sorts of things are people challenging themselves about with their money?

The folks at Reader’s Digest have a few money-related challenges to start the ball rolling.

There’s the “one per cent savings challenge,” the magazine reports.

“For this challenge, no drastic lifestyle changes are needed. You’ll simply contact your workplace and increase your retirement contribution by one per cent. Then, set a schedule. Every two to three months (whatever works for you, just stay consistent), increase it by another one per cent,” Reader’s Digest suggests. 

An intriguing one is the “100 envelope challenge,” the magazine continues.

“Want to save more than $5,000 in three months? TikTok’s viral 100-envelope challenge can help you do just that. Grab a box of colourful money-saving envelopes and label them 1 to 100. Each day, you draw an envelope, and whatever number you draw, you add an equal amount of cash inside. For instance, if you draw No. 27 on day one, then you’ll fill the envelope with $27, seal it and place it in a basket or drawer. After 100 days and 100 envelopes, you’ll have saved a total of $5,050,” the article notes.

We’ll Canadianize another tip from Reader’s Digest, since we haven’t had dollar bills for a while. The idea is that every time you get a Loonie in your change, “take it out of your wallet and put it away in a money pouch.” You can, in time, up this by including toonies and $5 bills, the article suggests.

Forbes magazine has a few more on offer.

“Save one dollar a day. That’s it! Do it for the entire year to kickstart your savings fund in a way that feels manageable,” the magazine suggests.

You can boost the savings amount down the road – if you were to save $20 a week, you’d have $1,040 by the end of the year, Forbes continues.

How about the “Roll the Dice” savings challenge? “Take a six-sided die and roll it each day. Worst case scenario: you tuck away $6 a day for a total of just over $2,000 a year. But this is a situation where your “worst” scenario is great news for your savings account,” Forbes notes.

A third gem from Forbes is the “no-spend challenge.”

“A no-spend challenge can take place during a single day, over a month or even longer. While the challenge is on, you can’t spend any money beyond routine bills and any other regular expenses you’ve already planned for (say, gas for your commute or getting a prescription refill from the pharmacy). At the end of the challenge, take the “extra” money you’ve discovered out of your chequing account and move it to a savings account,” the magazine recommends.

The Inspired Budget blog offers up a few more.

The Holiday Helper Challenge, the blog reports, provides “a way to get ahead of the huge expenses of the holidays. Starting January 1, set aside $20 from each week’s budget and put it into savings.”

“You can use this for holiday gift buying, or use it to save up for a vacation or another major expense. By the end of November, you will save an extra $960 on a bi-weekly budget,” the blog notes.

We’ve talked about saving loonies, toonies and even fivers, but if that’s a bit too tough for you right now, how about the 365-Day Nickel Saving Challenge?

“On the first day, deposit $0.05 into savings. On the second day, deposit $0.10, and on the third day, $0.15,” the blog explains.

“Basically, you add a nickel to the previous day’s savings every single day. Then by the last day, you will deposit $18.40,” the blog notes. “When you look at those numbers, they seem so doable! The best thing is that when you add it all up, the total you will put into savings will be a whopping $3,300!

Finally, one we all know well, there’s the Spare Change challenge.

“Whenever you get loose change, you put it in a jar or piggy bank. When that jar fills up, take it to the bank and put it in your savings account,” the blog suggests. “If you have never tried to save your loose change, it might surprise you how much you can accumulate.”

Mrs Save with SPP used the spare change route as part of her effort to boost her own Saskatchewan Pension Plan savings. Every time the piggy bank was full, we went to the coin counter, turned coins into bills, and then put it in the bank. Online, we had set up SPP as a bill payment, and presto, there’s another few bucks in the retirement kitty.

After all, your future you will greatly appreciate those savings, no matter what challenge you’ve selected to create them.

Check out SPP today!

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Retirement isn’t always a money thing. There’s mounting evidence that how we behave – the things we do or don’t do – can directly impact how long we live.

Let’s not include dietary matters (most of us obsess about them enough already) in our look for things that add years to our lives.

According to Reader’s Digest, a key behaviour is to de-stress. “Stress and stressors are everywhere,” the magazine notes. “Learning how to manage your stress with guided imagery, meditation, deep breathing or another practice can add years to your life,” states Dr. Michael Roizen in the article.

The Westlake Bay Village Observer notes that quitting smoking by age 30 adds 10 years to your life, and if you quit by age 65, you get three additional years. “Some health benefits are immediate,” the article notes. “Hours after stopping smoking, heart rate and pressure improved,” and within a year, your risk of a heart attack is cut in two.

Then there’s fitness. Cardiovascular Business magazine notes that being fit while middle-aged can extend life significantly. “Middle-aged men with the highest cardio respiratory fitness (CRF) levels live an average of five years longer than peers with age-adjusted CRF in the bottom 5 per cent of the population,” the magazine notes.

Some easier things to do that add up – Woman’s Day reports that flossing your teeth daily will add three to five years to your life, because research shows that “periodontal and cardiovascular disease are linked.” As well, going to bed 15 minutes earlier will add three years to your life, the magazine reports.

Save with SPP has noted, empirically, that cranky people seem to live longer. The Internet provided some backing for this belief, but we couldn’t nail down anything concrete. However, a CBS News report  found that people who “express their anger live two years longer, on average, than those who bottle up their rage.”

Those who don’t blow off steam, the article says, ran the risk of “an elevated pulse, high blood pressure, and other serious ailments.”  If there’s a theme that connects these dots, it is to relax and to not worry. That’s the feeling you can have about your retirement if you sign up with the Saskatchewan Pension Plan – check them out to discover inner peace about retirement saving.

 

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer, hopeful darts player and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Sheltie, Duncan, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

By Sheryl Smolkin

Barbecuing is the obvious alternative when you don’t want to cook inside and heat up the house on a hot and muggy summer day. But feeding a crowd can get expensive if you entertain frequently or if there always seems to be a gang of hungry teenagers foraging for food in your fridge. This week we feature blog posts that have useful tips for cheap and cheerful summer barbecues.

First and foremost you need a grill. Barbecue Bible’s Steven Raichlen offers 8 questions to ask yourself before buying a grill or smoker. How much can you afford? Charcoal, gas, wood-burning or other? How many people will you be cooking for? What foods do you enjoy grilling or smoking? Is portability important? These questions and others will influence your purchasing decision.

Real Simple has 10 Money-Saving Ideas for a Summer Barbecue. Some examples are:

• Skip the porterhouse steak in favour of a great flank steak.
• It’s super easy to make do-it-yourself rubs and sauces.
• Maintain your grill properly so it will last as long as possible.

In 7 Tips for Hosting a Low-Budget BBQ Readers Digest says don’t stress about impressing your guests with an elaborate menu. Instead of trying difficult recipes, serve simple dishes that you know they will like. Plus, if the kids at your barbecue are picky eaters, your uncomplicated menu is bound to please them.

Tiphero says the way to have a cheap and successful barbecue is to make the most of the meat you purchase by serving skewers. It breaks up the meat with some veggies to make for a nice, filling snack on a stick. Skewers are a great presentation and work wonderfully for portion control.

And finally, Stockpilingmoms gives 7 tips to a fun and cheap BBQ. What about a hot dog or bratwurst bar? Grab hot dogs, bratwurst or sausages for less than a steak, chicken or burger would cost.  Pick out regular, wheat, onion and poppy seed buns.  Offer different fresh or grilled veggies, relish, chili, and all your favorite condiments for a fun spin on a typical barbecue.  Let everyone build their own dog mixing and matching classic flavors to create a new favorite.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.