26 week savings challenge

Save once every payday for 26 paydays. $1,000 is $38 or $39 a payday; the $1-to-$26 version ends at $351. Enter your first payday and every deposit gets its date. Tick them off here, or print the whole schedule on one sheet. Free, no signup.

Choose “Save as PDF” in the print dialog for a one page PDF.
Goal
Deposits
How often
Currency

Saved so far

$0

Deposits ticked

0 / 26

Still to go

$1,000

Last deposit

—

Saved $0 Goal $1,000
Each step is one deposit. Its top is the running total, so the staircase climbs to your goal. Tap a step, or a row below, when the money moves.

Your 26 deposits

The $1,000 challenge, climbing, one deposit per payday

  1. 1 Payday 1 $3 $3
  2. 2 Payday 2 $6 $9
  3. 3 Payday 3 $9 $18
  4. 4 Payday 4 $11 $29
  5. 5 Payday 5 $14 $43
  6. 6 Payday 6 $17 $60
  7. 7 Payday 7 $20 $80
  8. 8 Payday 8 $23 $103
  9. 9 Payday 9 $26 $129
  10. 10 Payday 10 $28 $157
  11. 11 Payday 11 $31 $188
  12. 12 Payday 12 $34 $222
  13. 13 Payday 13 $37 $259
  14. 14 Payday 14 $40 $299
  15. 15 Payday 15 $43 $342
  16. 16 Payday 16 $46 $388
  17. 17 Payday 17 $48 $436
  18. 18 Payday 18 $51 $487
  19. 19 Payday 19 $54 $541
  20. 20 Payday 20 $57 $598
  21. 21 Payday 21 $60 $658
  22. 22 Payday 22 $63 $721
  23. 23 Payday 23 $66 $787
  24. 24 Payday 24 $68 $855
  25. 25 Payday 25 $71 $926
  26. 26 Payday 26 $74 $1,000

Your ticks and settings are saved in this browser, so the schedule reopens where you left it. No account, no email.

Why payday is the right day to save

Every two weeks is the most common pay schedule at US private employers: 43% of them paid that way in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is 26 paydays a year, and it is where the 26 week challenge comes from: one deposit per paycheck, set aside the day the money lands and before it has a chance to turn into something else. Saving on payday is a rule. Saving “when there is some left” is a hope.

A dated row turns the rule into an appointment. You can see that the next deposit is due on a particular Friday, and that it is $43, not “some”. The staircase above is the same schedule drawn as a climb: every step is one payday, and the top step is the goal.

Even, climbing or biggest first

Even splits the goal into 26 near-equal deposits. $1,000 becomes 14 deposits of $38 and 12 of $39, which adds up to exactly $1,000 and fits a standing transfer. Climbing starts small and grows: the classic version saves $1 on the first payday and $26 on the last, $351 in all, and any bigger goal is the same shape scaled up. Biggest first flips the climb, so the heavy deposits land while you are keen and the last few months ask for little.

Every option adds up to the goal you typed, to the dollar. Climbing needs a goal of at least $351, so that the first payday asks for at least $1.

How to run it

Move the money first, tick second, so the schedule never says more than your savings account does. Keep the challenge money somewhere you do not spend from. If a payday slips or you miss one, do not restart: tick it when the money moves and carry on. Twenty-five out of twenty-six is still a finished challenge.

Paid weekly, or want it over sooner? Switch to Every week and the same 26 deposits fit in six months.

Want a full year with a deposit every week? The 52 week savings challenge runs $1 to $52 and ends at $1,378. For any other goal or length, the savings challenge tracker builds the grid around your own number.

Frequently asked questions

How does the 26 week savings challenge work?

You save once every payday for 26 paydays. Paid every two weeks, that is one year; paid weekly, it is six months. The classic version saves $1 on the first payday and $26 on the last, $351 in all. Bigger goals use the same 26 deposits, either even or climbing, and the tracker on this page adds them up to your goal exactly.

How much do I save each payday for $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000?

With even deposits: $1,000 is 14 paydays of $38 and 12 of $39. $5,000 is 18 of $192 and 8 of $193. $10,000 is 10 of $384 and 16 of $385. Each set adds up to the goal to the dollar. Choose Climbing instead and the same goal starts smaller and finishes larger.

Is it a biweekly savings challenge or a weekly one?

Either. The name counts deposits, not calendar weeks. Most people run it as a biweekly savings challenge, one deposit per paycheck, which takes a year. If you are paid weekly or want it done sooner, switch to Every week and the same 26 deposits fit in six months. The dates on the schedule follow your choice.

Is the 26 week savings challenge printable free?

Yes. It is free, has no watermark and asks for no email address. Press Print the schedule and your browser prints one sheet: a staircase to colour in and all 26 deposits with their dates and running totals. Set the destination to "Save as PDF" if you want a 26 week savings challenge printable PDF.

What if my payday moves or I miss one?

Change the first payday and every date moves with it. If you miss a deposit, do not restart. Tick it when the money moves and carry on; the total does not care which week it arrived in. Restarting is how a 26 deposit plan turns into five attempts at the first month.

Other free tools

All free, all in the browser, none of them ask for an email address.

52 Week Savings Challenge

The named challenge, run properly: tick a week, watch the total climb, print the whole grid on one sheet.

Open the tool

Savings Challenge Tracker

Your number, your deadline. Set a goal and a length and the tracker builds the grid, flat or climbing.

Open the tool

Budget Planner Printable

Type your own categories, watch what is left, print a clean one page budget for the fridge or the folder.

Open the tool

Every other payday is a habit

The schedule says what to save and when. Doing it on the 14th payday, when nobody is watching, is the hard part. Disciplined is a habit tracker for exactly that: one tap, a streak you can see, nothing else.

Download on App Store Get it on Google Play