The 1p Challenge is a Waste of Time. Try This Instead.

There’s so much wrong with the “1p challenge”, it’s hard to know where to begin.

First, it’s as impractical as can be; are you going to transfer pennies out of your account every single day for a year? Just imagine what your bank statement would look like. You can’t set a standing order for it, so you’re also willingly wasting your time.

More importantly, why just 1p? Why not aim higher? The 1p challenge gets you to £667.95 a year. That’s £55.66 a month. How about you pick a number that’s challenging for you and go from there?

But more than anything, I object to it because it treats society like children. If it were aimed at kids, that’s one thing. But it isn’t; The “1p challenge” is a childish game, and your finances should be taken a little more seriously than that.

Other “challenges” make sense: Meat-free Mondays picks a day out of the week, and Dry January is aimed as a break after the holidays. Even the sort of “30 days to 6-pack abs” are more thoughtful than the arbitrary and completely impractical 1p challenge. So what can you do instead?

Alternatives to the 1p Challenge

Let’s do some basic math: following the 1p challenge will save you £667.95. The mature way to go about it is saving either weekly or monthly, and realising that your financial wellbeing is not a game.

£667.95 per year is £12.84 a week, or £55.66 a month.

If you’re paid monthly, what could be easier than setting aside £55.66 before you’ve done anything else with your paycheck? That’s the real challenge: having the discipline to do what you set out to do. To make it even easier, simply automate it by setting up a Standing Order. If you prefer to save weekly, just pick a day and set aside £12.84. Presumably, you can do it on Wednesdays, as January 1st 2025 is a Wednesday.

If you’re on board so far, why stick to the £667.95 figure? Do you really want to limit yourself just because the 1p challenge happens to lead you there? Why not £700? £800? £2500? Make up your own numbers. Create your own “challenge”, or better yet, just follow your own plan: pick a number that makes sense to you, that’s challenging but attainable.

The real challenge is in sticking to your plan for 12 months, and not dipping into your savings the first chance you get.

If You Must Do the 1p Challenge

If for some reason you absolutely must do the 1p challenge, then at least do it this way: keep the original calculations of the 1p challenge, but stick to monthly contributions. Here are the figures:

January £4.96

February £12.74

March £23.25

April £31.65

May £42.16

June £49.95

July £61.07

August £70.68

September £77.55

October £89.59

November £95.85

December £108.50

If you see it through, you’ll reach the same £667.95 at the end of the year. And hopefully realise you can do things differently in 2026.

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This is not financial advice. Please do your own research and/or consult a professional before making any financial decisions.