1p Saving Challenge: save £667.95 starting with a single penny

Each day you save one penny more than the day before. Day 30 is 30p, day 100 is £1, day 200 is £2 and day 365 is £3.65. Add up every day and you get 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 365 = 66,795p, or £667.95.

For the first three months you never save more than about 90p a day. Even in the final month you are saving between £3.35 and £3.65 a day. If you can spare a few pence, you can do this.

Starting on 1 January in a non-leap year, here is what each month adds up to:

Starting tiny removes the mental barrier to saving. You never wake up thinking you cannot afford today's amount, because even at its peak it is £3.65. Once you have done 30 days in a row, stopping feels like throwing away 30 days of effort, and you start to see yourself as someone who saves every day. For people who believe they cannot save, it is proof in a concrete, undeniable form.

Compare it with a plan to save £50 a month: miss January because Christmas was expensive, skip February for a car repair, and by March it feels like failure. The 1p Challenge is far more forgiving.

Very few people save in literal pennies. The first week totals 28p, which is not worth a bank transfer. Most people log the amount each day and move the total across once a week or once a month, using the month-by-month figures above. Set a reminder at the start of each month for the transfer, and save into a separate named account or pot.

A jar of coins is satisfying to watch fill, but finding exact change every day is awkward in a mostly cashless world, the coins earn nothing, and nearly £700 in cash at home is a risk. A hybrid works well: a jar for the first few weeks for motivation, then a savings pot.

Pair the daily save with something you already do, such as your morning tea, and keep it under 30 seconds. If it takes longer, you will stop doing it.

The challenge is designed to survive missed days. If you miss day 50, you can save 51p on day 51 and accept being 50p short at the end, or save £1.01 to catch up. A good rule: if you miss one to three days, catch up; if you miss a week or more, carry on from today and do not try to catch up all at once. Getting the daily habit back matters more than the missed pennies.

The worst response is deciding the challenge is ruined and stopping. Imperfect consistency beats giving up.

You can start on any day and run for 365 days. Or run a shorter version to the end of the year: the total for n days is n × (n + 1) ÷ 2 pence. With 100 days left, for example, you would save £50.50.

The same idea adapts to most budgets and preferences:

The 1p Challenge pairs well with bigger challenges. Run it alongside the 52-Week Challenge and you save over £2,000 in a year: a small daily habit plus a weekly transfer. Add a monthly standing order and you are saving at three different rhythms. A No-Spend Challenge works well for months when you want to save harder.

Decide before you start, or the money gets absorbed into everyday spending. Transfer it regularly rather than leaving it to build up in your current account.

• Emergency fund: if you have little or nothing set aside, this is the best home for it.
• Expensive debt: putting it towards a credit card charging over 20% APR saves more than most savings accounts earn.
• An ISA: the daily amounts are too small to pay into an ISA each day, so save into a pot and move the total across monthly or quarterly.
• A specific goal: a holiday, Christmas or car repairs, in a pot named after the goal.

SYM runs the 1p Challenge forwards or in reverse. It shows today's amount, one tap logs it, and the streak and running total build day by day. Missed days show calmly and can be caught up. Try the 1p Challenge calculator to see the totals for any start date.