Start the 1p savings challenge on New Year's Day to boost your bank balance by over £671 next Christmas

Christmas 2024 could pay for itself if you follow the simple savings schedule.

This handy hack could help kickstart your savings in 2024 without putting too much strain on your finances at the start of the new year. By following the one penny savings challenge, you could build up a handy savings pot worth £671.61 which could take the pressure off buying presents next Christmas.

January is the perfect month to begin saving and the ‘1p challenge’ - as it’s often referred to - is probably one of the simplest and best-known ways to build your money pot for winter 2024. It’s also a great way to get into the habit of saving every day by starting small and focusing on the end result.

And the best bit is, because the daily savings amount in January won’t impact your finances too much, you can easily catch up or start at the end of the month instead - all you’ll need to do is set aside £4.96.

The only drawback to this savings plan is that the amounts increase as the year goes on. It might be worthwhile knowing the amounts due per month and setting the money aside as soon as you get paid

Monthly savings plan

It's also worth bearing in mind that 2024 is a leap year, so there are 366 savings days in the year.

How the penny challenge works

To start the savings challenge, you just have to put away a penny a day (at first), which gradually grows to pounds as the months roll by so that at the end of the year, you will have saved enough money to start 2025 with a few hundred pounds tucked away.

Although the challenge officially start on New Year's Day by setting aside 1p, it's easy to catch up during January due to the small amounts involved - you start by saving 1p, then 2p, then 3p a day - right the way up to £3.66 on the last day of December.

If you follow the schedule, by December 31, 2024 you will have saved a grand total of £671.61.

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12-month daily savings plan

Follow this penny savings plan:

• Day 1: Put in £0.01
• Day 2: Put in £0.02
• Day 3: Put in £0.03
• Day 4: Put in £0.04
• Day 5: Put in £0.05
• Day 6: Put in £0.06
• Day 7: Put in £0.07
• Day 8: Put in £0.08
• Day 9: Put in £0.09
• Day 10: Put in £0.10
• Day 11: Put in £0.11

From Day 100 add:

• Day 100: Put in £1.00
• Day 101: Put in £1.01
• Day 102: Put in £1.02

Double the amount on day 200:

• Day 200: Put in £2.00
• Day 201: Put in £2.01
• Day 202: Put in £2.02

Continue until day 300, then add:

• Day 300: Put in £3.00
• Day 301: Put in £3.01
• Day 302: Put in £3.02

On the final 366th day, drop in £3.66 and it's time to cash in your jar. If you have followed the plan throughout the 12 months, you should have saved £671.61 to start off the New Year.

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Flip it round to suit your financial situation

Alternatively, you could reverse the order in which you save, if you have the cash to spare and think that will work better for you. This would mean starting saving £3.66 on January 1, so you will only have to put aside 1p on December 31.

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