The one percent challenge

Wouldn't it be nice to have the money to spontaneously go on a trip?

After you drop your phone, wouldn't it be great to be able to have the screen repaired immediately, without worrying where you'll find the money?

If you don't have savings right now, you might not see how to get to that point. But it's easier than you think. Here's how you get started.

For the coming month, I challenge you to do this one thing:

Save one percent more than you normally do.

Were you saving five percent of your net income last month? Save six percent this month. Have you not been saving at all? Commit to saving one percent of your take-home pay this month.

If your net income is $2,000 per month, that means saving $20 more than you normally do. That's doable, isn't it?

You could cut some recurring costs. For example, find a cheaper cell phone plan, or cancel a subscription to an app that you don't use much.

Or you could set aside the savings as soon as you get your paycheck and then force yourself to live on the rest of your pay. Choose whichever method works best for you.

After you save one more percent this coming month, add another percent the next month. And another one the month after that.

Will it get harder, at some point, to find more savings? Yes. But don't worry about that now. Start by increasing your savings by one percent this coming month, and let Future You deal with increasing your savings in future months.

Do you accept this challenge?

If you do, I'll be your accountability partner. 💪🏻

Yours,

— Peter

P.S. A hat tip to Paula Pant, who popularized this challenge on her blog Afford Anything.