What is the reverse 52 week savings challenge?

$1,378 in 1 year: 52 deposits falling from $52 to $1. Held in cash that is 19 bills.

How much cash is $1,378 in bills?

19 bills: 13 × $100, 1 × $50, 1 × $20, 1 × $5, 3 × $1. A chart gives you the total; this is what you would actually be holding.

Which deposit is the hard one?

The first 7 deposits ask for $343 between them, against $28 for the last 7. That is where people stop: the plan is at its most expensive while it is still new, and gets cheaper every week after.

Reverse 52 week challenge

The same ladder upside down: $52 in week one, down to $1 in the last. The money is identical; the hard part moves to January.

Reverse 52 week challenge saves $1,378 across 52 deposits, weekly. They run $52 down to $1, averaging $26.50, and the whole thing takes 1 year.

Total: $1,378
Deposits run: $1–$52
Deposits: 52
Takes: 1 year

$1,378 is 19 bills

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

$100 bills: 13
$50 bills: 1
$20 bills: 1
$5 bills: 1
$1 bills: 3

Every deposit

#1$52
#2$51
#3$50
#4$49
#5$48
#6$47
#7$46
#8$45
#9$44
#10$43
#11$42
#12$41
#13$40
#14$39
#15$38
#16$37
#17$36
#18$35
#19$34
#20$33
#21$32
#22$31
#23$30
#24$29
#25$28
#26$27
#27$26
#28$25
#29$24
#30$23
#31$22
#32$21
#33$20
#34$19
#35$18
#36$17
#37$16
#38$15
#39$14
#40$13
#41$12
#42$11
#43$10
#44$9
#45$8
#46$7
#47$6
#48$5
#49$4
#50$3
#51$2
#52$1

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

What people ask

What is the reverse 52 week savings challenge?: $1,378 in 1 year: 52 deposits falling from $52 to $1. Held in cash that is 19 bills.
How much cash is $1,378 in bills?: 19 bills: 13 × $100, 1 × $50, 1 × $20, 1 × $5, 3 × $1. A chart gives you the total; this is what you would actually be holding.
Which deposit is the hard one?: The first 7 deposits ask for $343 between them, against $28 for the last 7. That is where people stop: the plan is at its most expensive while it is still new, and gets cheaper every week after.

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.