Setting aside £5 before the end of January could help kickstart your savings pot for 2026.
If you follow the 1p savings plan throughout 2026, you should have saved over £667 by the end of the year.(Image: Getty Images )
The start of a new year is the best time to implement changes and look at ways to boost your finances over the next 12 months, especially if you’ve gone over your Christmas budget. One of the simplest savings hacks involves putting pennies away every day which gradually becomes pounds as the year progresses.
By sticking to the ‘1p savings challenge’, you could build up a handy savings pot worth £667.95 by December 31, 2026. However, even if you only saved until the end of November, you would still have put away an impressive £559.45 which could take the pressure off buying presents next Christmas.
The ‘1p challenge’ – as it’s often referred to – is probably one of the simplest and best-known ways to build your money pot for winter 2026. It’s also a great way to get into the habit of saving every day by starting small and focusing on the end result.
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The best bit is, because the daily savings amount in January won’t impact your finances too much, you can easily catch up or start at the end of the month instead – all you’ll need to do is set aside £4.96.
The only downside to this savings plan is that the amounts increase as the year goes on. It might be worthwhile knowing the amounts due per month and setting the money aside as soon as you get paid.
1p challenge monthly savings plan
Here’s a full breakdown of how much to put away by the end of each month to reach the savings goal:
- January – £4.95
- 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
- Total saved – £667.95
How the penny challenge works
To start the savings challenge, you just have to put away a penny a day (at first), which gradually grows to pounds as the months roll by so at the end of the year, you will have saved enough money to start 2027 with a few hundred pounds tucked away.
Although the challenge officially starts on New Year’s Day by setting aside 1p, it’s easy to catch up during January due to the small amounts involved – you start by saving 1p, then 2p, then 3p a day – right the way up to £3.66 on the last day of December.
If you follow the schedule, by December 31, 2026 you will have saved a grand total of £667.95
12-month daily savings plan
Follow this penny savings plan:
- Day 1: Put in £0.01
- Day 2: Put in £0.02
- Day 3: Put in £0.03
- Day 4: Put in £0.04
- Day 5: Put in £0.05
- Day 6: Put in £0.06
- Day 7: Put in £0.07
- Day 8: Put in £0.08
- Day 9: Put in £0.09
- Day 10: Put in £0.10
- Day 11: Put in £0.11
From Day 100 add:
- Day 100: Put in £1.00
- Day 101: Put in £1.01
- Day 102: Put in £1.02
Double the amount on day 200:
- Day 200: Put in £2.00
- Day 201: Put in £2.01
- Day 202: Put in £2.02
Continue until day 300, then add:
- Day 300: Put in £3.00
- Day 301: Put in £3.01
- Day 302: Put in £3.02
Flip it round to suit your financial situation
Alternatively, you could reverse the order in which you save – if you have the cash to spare and think that will work better for you.
This would mean setting aside £108.50 in January, which gradually decreases as the year goes on ending with a December payment of £4.96. MoneySavingExpert.com created a handy guide for this method last year which will work again in 2026 – you can find here.
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