The 6-Week Summer Savings Sprint

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With Memorial Day Weekend upon us, I know we’re all getting into the summer “vacation” mindset. But we all know what that means: gearing up for a season of heavy, FOMO-induced spending. And while we heartily encourage everyone to take care of their present selves, short-term fun is not worth sacrificing your long-term stability. To that end, we’d love to invite you to join our 6-week summer savings sprint, inspiring you to beef up your emergency fund so you can relax all summer with the peace of mind that you’ve made your financial backup plan. By completing a mini challenge each week, the goal is to help you reset your spending mindset during the consumption-driven months ahead of us. 

And as you make progress on that emergency fund, make sure your money is working as hard for you as possible. With Betterment’s high-yield cash account, new customers can earn a 4.50% variable APY with a qualifying deposit for 3 months. That’s 11x the national average. This account offers peace of mind, as well, with up to $2M in FDIC insurance with Betterment’s program banks. Put your mind at ease and your money to work with Betterment — click here to sign up in minutes!

Cash Reserve offered by Betterment LLC and requires a Betterment Securities brokerage account. Betterment is not a bank. FDIC insurance provided by Program Banks, subject to certain conditions. Learn More Below. Annual percentage yield (variable) is 4.00% as of 12/27/24, plus a 0.50% boost (“APY Boost”) for new clients with a qualifying deposit. $10 min deposit for base APY. Terms apply; if the base APY changes, the Boosted APY will change. National average savings account annual percentage yield (APY) (as of 12/16/24) for savings accounts under $100,000, per FDIC.

Check out our 6-week sprint below — keep in mind that some of these mini-challenges may be more achievable for you than others. That's okay! Change around the order, or even eliminate weeks that don't fit your lifestyle. The goal is to find manageable ways to give your savings a bump, without feeling like you can’t live your life in the meantime.

Week 1: Make a calendar of free summer activities in your area.

Start off by setting yourself up for a spending-smart summer. Now, this can be easier said than done based on how “happening” your local area seems to be, but I bet there are more free things going on than you’re currently aware of. During the summer, I take advantage of outdoor yoga classes and movie nights in our local parks, street fairs and parades, all for free. I take the time to add all of these to my Google calendar at the start of the summer to make sure I don’t miss anything! Bonus points if you go out of your way to witness the magic of astronomical events, too :)

Week 2: Perform a digital subscription audit.

This is pretty self explanatory: comb through your recurring expenses and take note of all of the subscriptions you're paying for. Then, ask yourself if you are really using them enough to be worth the cost: if you just got a Max subscription to watch The Pitt (taste!), do you really need to keep paying for it until season 2 drops? Or could you cancel it now and re-up next January? Sometimes luxuries start feeling like necessities, so going without them may feel like restricting your pleasure — but if you're not even using them, there might not be a point in continuing to pay for them.

Week 3: Pick one budget category to cut for a month.

Instead of restricting yourself to a full-on no-spend challenge, try cutting out one budget category for the last month of your six-week sprint. Keep in mind, this should be a category that’s actually going to make a difference — if your beauty spending amounts to one January Ulta restock and a quarterly mascara, that might not make the biggest dent in your summer savings. But if you're regularly splurging on the hot new lipstick and highlighter trends, maybe taking a month off would help boost your savings goal. 

Week 4: Track your progress and adjust savings contributions.

This week, take some time to comb through your progress — how much have you saved? (This is something an emergency fund with Betterment’s high-yield cash account can help you with.) Use this data to adjust your automated savings withdrawals going forward. Bonus points if you even create a temporary budget that accounts for your temporary spending changes. For instance, if the free summer events have really been speaking to you, maybe it's time to adjust your overall entertainment budget for the rest of your challenge!

Week 5: Commit to your long put-off home project.

What’s the one thing you keep meaning to do around your home, but never seem to make time for? This could be anything, as long as it's basically free: reorganizing your closet, deep cleaning your appliance interiors, painting your bedroom, finishing the puzzle that's been rolled up in your puzzle saver for the last three months (just me?). This week, your goal is to actually make time for the project, whether or not you can manage to finish it. The point is to spend energy on something that takes your time and attention away from other things that would cost you a lot more money — with the added bonus of walking away with a huge sense of accomplishment.

Week 6: Do a pantry clean-out (and maybe restaurant-free) challenge.

Finally, during our last week of this challenge, we invite you to do something all of us should probably take part in every few months or so: try to use up everything in your fridge and pantry. A kitchen clean-out is a great way to take stock of what you actually have on hand, while also pushing you to spend less on food overall. Extra credit if you use this as an opportunity to go restaurant and takeout-free for a week as well, and see how that affects your wallet!

Track your progress with our custom-made 6-week savings sprint tracker below!