Tap a day when you've put its pennies away, and tap again to undo. Each month's box shows what that month costs. Your ticks stay in this browser only, with no sign up. The table under the settings shows every month of your challenge and the running total.
How the penny challenge works
On day 1 you save one penny. On day 2, two. On day 100, a dollar. Every day costs one penny more than the day before, so the last day of 365 costs $3.65, or £3.65 if you're doing the 1p challenge in the UK.
Add them all up and 365 days come to $667.95, or £667.95 in pounds. You can check that without a calculator. The first and last days make 366 pennies together, and so do the second and the second to last. So the total is 365 times 366 pennies, halved.
365 deposits or every day of the year?
This catches people out. Most charts list 365 deposits. But if you save on every day of a calendar year and the year is a leap year, there are 366 days, and the extra day costs $3.66. That brings the total to $671.61.
The tracker lets you choose. Pick 365 deposits to start any day you like, or every day of a year to follow the calendar exactly, leap day included.
What each month costs
The daily amounts are tiny at first, so the months are very uneven. Starting on 1 January and counting up, January costs about $5 and December costs $108.50. The first half of the year, 182 days, only adds up to $166.53.
| Month | Days | Count up | Running total | Count down | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 4.96 | 4.96 | 108.50 | 108.50 |
| February | 28 | 12.74 | 17.70 | 89.74 | 198.24 |
| March | 31 | 23.25 | 40.95 | 90.21 | 288.45 |
| April | 30 | 31.65 | 72.60 | 78.15 | 366.60 |
| May | 31 | 42.16 | 114.76 | 71.30 | 437.90 |
| June | 30 | 49.95 | 164.71 | 59.85 | 497.75 |
| July | 31 | 61.07 | 225.78 | 52.39 | 550.14 |
| August | 31 | 70.68 | 296.46 | 42.78 | 592.92 |
| September | 30 | 77.55 | 374.01 | 32.25 | 625.17 |
| October | 31 | 89.59 | 463.60 | 23.87 | 649.04 |
| November | 30 | 95.85 | 559.45 | 13.95 | 662.99 |
| December | 31 | 108.50 | 667.95 | 4.96 | 667.95 |
The tracker builds this same table from your own start date, so if you start in March, you'll see your real months.
Counting down instead
The reverse penny challenge flips the order: $3.65 on day one, then one penny less each day. It's the same total, but the expensive days come first, while you're keen, and the end of the year is nearly free. If your December is full of gifts and travel, it's worth a look. The table above shows both orders side by side.
A few things that help
- Move the money in bigger chunks. Saving a week at a time, or a month using the table, is much easier than 365 tiny transfers.
- Keep it apart from your spending money, in a jar or a separate savings account.
- Missed some days? Tick them off when you catch up. The total doesn't care which day the pennies arrived.
None of this is financial advice. It's arithmetic and a habit, and the habit is the hard part.
Printing the chart
Print a blank chart gives you all the days on one page, grouped by month, with each day's amount and nothing ticked. Print my chart does the same with your ticked days shaded. Both follow your currency, order and start date. To keep a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.
Questions
How much is the penny challenge in total?
$667.95 for 365 deposits, and $671.61 if you save on every day of a leap year. In pounds it's the same numbers with a £ sign.
How much is that a day on average?
About $1.83 a day. But the real days run from 1 penny up to $3.65.
Is the 1p challenge the same thing?
Yes. The 1p savings challenge is the UK name, with pence instead of cents. The total is £667.95 for 365 days.
Can I start in the middle of the year?
Yes. Pick any first day and the tracker counts 365 days from there, with the months worked out from your date.
Is my progress saved?
Only in this browser. Clear the site's data or switch devices and the chart starts empty.
Can I do it in an app?
Yes. In my Savings Challenge app for Android, make a custom challenge with 365 boxes, growing amounts and 0.01 as the first one. You tap to save, watch a jar fill, and get a reminder. It works offline with no bank connection.
Not sure which challenge to pick? See the money saving challenges compared. Want something with bigger steps? The 52 week challenge saves once a week, and the 100 envelope challenge lets you draw a random amount each time.
Savings Challenge
Tap to save, watch the jar fill, and get a weekly reminder. 52 weeks, 100 envelopes or your own grid.