Upon coming into the new year, I decided I wanted to try to stick to a resolution. In past years, I have tried to "get in shape" and "eat healthier," but I always fell victim to junk food and tasty treats a few weeks later. I decided that I wanted this year to be different. Along with trying to create a healthy lifestyle for myself, I needed an additional resolution that I knew I could stick to, no matter the circumstances. After a little bit of digging on Pinterest, I found an interesting idea: a saving's challenge.

As far as my financial status is concerned, I am a broke college kid. I save what I can, and then my savings go towards textbooks or other "necessities" months later. Starting from a young age, my parents taught me how to save money and the importance of doing so. I always put all my money away, but of course, now I need to use it. I spend more than I save, and although that is okay, I decided I could do better.

After considerable research, I went out and bought a craft box and got started saving. I had a plan in place and I was ready to go. The guide that I found was a weekly savings plan where you start by putting in one dollar and then every week you add a dollar. So, the first week you put one dollar into the box, the second week you put two dollars into the box, and by the end of the year, you will have roughly $1,400 in your box. I liked the idea and put one dollar into my box. Then, I ran into a problem.

I work a lot at home and only a little at school. I realized that there is no way I would be able to continue adding to my box once the numbers got larger and it got later into the year. How could I afford say $37, then $38, and so forth when I need to pay for gas and other trivial expenses? I reinvested some time, and found another winning idea.

Instead of sticking to a regimented, weekly saving's plan, I decided to take a different approach. Entitled the $5 saving's plan, this guide seemed more promising and much easier to stick to. The idea is simple; every time you get a $5 bill, you put it in the box. And, once the year is over, you count up your bills and see just how much you saved. There are no limits or time constraints. I decided this saving's plan was for me, and I immediately put all of my $5 bills into the box. After only two weeks of saving, my box is considerably full.

With my boyfriend by my side doing the same saving's plan with me, it is fun to have a little bit of competition alongside an attainable goal. We have both saved a considerable amount of money so far, and I can only imagine just how many $5 bills we will have saved up by the end of the year. So, if you are considering doing a saving's challenge, I highly recommend going for it. It is a fun and easy way to save an extra few hundred or thousand dollars, without even realizing it. Anything is possible as long as you give it a try.