It’s called the 1p savings challenge, and it involves you increasing the amount you save by 1p every day throughout the year
Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com team has explained how you can save £667.95 in 2026 with a “relatively painless” savings challenge.
It’s called the 1p savings challenge, and it involves you increasing the amount you save by 1p every day throughout the year. You start by saving 1p on January 1, then 2p on January 2, 3p on January 3, and so on.
If you complete the challenge, then you will have saved £667.95 by December 31. MSE explained that if you miss a day, or start the challenge later this month, you can catch up.
In an article published on the MSE website, the team said: “If you join in on January 5, you could put 15p in your pot, then save 6p the following day.
“Likewise, if you start on 20 January, you could add £2.10 on your first day, then resume the challenge as normal on 21 January, when you’d save 21p.”
MSE recommends downloading a chart that shows each daily amount to keep yourself on track. In terms of how you save the cash, you could put loose change into a jar, or use a digital banking service to transfer the money.
MSE explained: “While it might defeat the object of it being a daily challenge, you could put away the month’s total in one go if you prefer,” the experts explain.
It continued: “Alternatively, you could split it equally over 12 months and set up a standing order if you wish.
“In this case, you’ll need to set aside £55.67 a month (that’s a rounded-up figure for 12 equal instalments, meaning you get an extra 9p during the challenge if you use this method – don’t spend it all at once!).”
If you have a Monzo account, you can opt into its 1p saving challenge and it will automatically move the savings over for you. Extra, Perks, and Max customers can unlock new features this year.
They will be able to level up their savings challenge by choosing to save 2p or 4p on day one, then 4p and 8p on day two, and so on.
There are also other saving challenges you can try. The £1 saving challenge sees you save £1 every day, so by the end of the year, you’ll have £365 in your pot.
Then there is the Monday to Friday challenge, which sees you start by saving £1 on Monday, then increase this amount by £1 a day until Friday – so £2 on Tuesday, £3 on Wednesday, £4 on Thursday and £5 on Friday.
You skip the weekends, so in total, you would save £15 a week. This adds up to £780 over the year.
