How much is the 26 week savings challenge?

$351 in 1 year: 26 deposits climbing from $1 to $26. Held in cash that is 5 bills.

How much cash is $351 in bills?

5 bills: 3 × $100, 1 × $50, 1 × $1. A chart gives you the total; this is what you would actually be holding.

Which deposit is the hard one?

The last 3 deposits ask for $75 between them, against $6 for the first 3. That is where people stop, because the plan gets more expensive exactly as it gets less novel.

26 week savings challenge

Half a year of the same idea, and it lines up with a biweekly paycheck instead of a calendar week.

26 week savings challenge saves $351 across 26 deposits, every payday. They run $1 up to $26, averaging $13.50, and the whole thing takes 1 year.

Total: $351
Deposits run: $1–$26
Deposits: 26
Takes: 1 year

$351 is 5 bills

If you are doing this in cash rather than in an account, this is what you finish holding.

$100 bills: 3
$50 bills: 1
$1 bills: 1

Every deposit

#1$1
#2$2
#3$3
#4$4
#5$5
#6$6
#7$7
#8$8
#9$9
#10$10
#11$11
#12$12
#13$13
#14$14
#15$15
#16$16
#17$17
#18$18
#19$19
#20$20
#21$21
#22$22
#23$23
#24$24
#25$25
#26$26

Want to tick them off as you go? The tracker keeps the checkmarks.

What people ask

How much is the 26 week savings challenge?: $351 in 1 year: 26 deposits climbing from $1 to $26. Held in cash that is 5 bills.
How much cash is $351 in bills?: 5 bills: 3 × $100, 1 × $50, 1 × $1. A chart gives you the total; this is what you would actually be holding.
Which deposit is the hard one?: The last 3 deposits ask for $75 between them, against $6 for the first 3. That is where people stop, because the plan gets more expensive exactly as it gets less novel.

Other challenges, with their real numbers

A challenge is easy. Twelve months of them is the hard part.

Larder keeps the envelope going after the novelty wears off, on the same paycheck the deposits come out of.

Get Larder on the App Store

All amounts are computed in integer cents and rounded up when splitting a bill across paychecks, so a plan never funds a bill short. Pay-period counts follow the calendar: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semi-monthly, 12 monthly. Every figure on this page is computed from the challenge itself, not typed in. Built by Larder, makers of an envelope budgeting app for iPhone. Last reviewed August 22, 2026.