2014 Save Money! Swap

Do you have something big you want to save up for? This is the swap for you! I am not sure, but I just love having money in the bank ready for anything I might choose! What is your dream? Maybe you just want a bigger safety cushion, or you want to buy a piece of furniture...that's up to you!

So, here's what we are going to do. 1) In January, send an email to your partners telling them what you are saving up for in loving detail, and, for fun, how you are going to do it (under the loose board in the bedroom, piggy bank, automatic withdrawal from the bank account...).

2) Beginning January, save an amount equal to the number of the week. There are 52 weeks in a year. So, for the first week we will save $1 (dollar coins are great for this!). For the twentieth week, $20 added to the cash cow. For the forty-second week, we will put $42 dollars in the stash...and well, you can do the math. It comes out to $1378 for the year, or $106 a month, if that math is easier for you. For overseas people, you can choose to do one of the following: save an equivalent amount in your local currency OR follow the concept of the swap and save 1 pound, rupiah, birr, dinar (insert your personal currency)...for the first week, 2 for the second, etc. You decide what works better for you.

If you cannot afford this level of saving but still want to participate, please just tell your partner what you are going to do. The amount is not the important part, but rather the encouragement to save whatever works for you financially. The above is a suggestion which is helpful to many and saves a nice chunk by the end of the year. I myself am going to try to save twice the above this year.

3) Send an email by May 31 (I will send out a reminder) to your partners letting them know how it is going. Just a little update.

4) At the end of the year, send an email to your partners and let them know how you did. How much did you save? Will you still do whatever it is you hoped to do originally, or has your dream changed?

5) I would suggest that a 5 rating means the swapper sent you 3 emails during the year (January, end of May, December) and saved money, ideally $1378 or more. However, we all have personal financial situations which may prevent that from happening. I think if the swapper makes a good faith effort to save, even if they don't get all the way to the amount, they should get a 5. The real point of the swap is to encourage people to save.

I am not going to run any type of group or blog this year--we did last year and participation was very low. This is essentially a swap where you must be self-motivated. I will send out reminders about the emails to help you remember to do them.

I have marked it type 3 because of the commitment over a year. We had several people not follow through in 2013 in spite of reminders. To join, you must have been a member for more than a year with regular participation in swaps. Ideally your profile will be well-filled and you will have completed at least 20 type 3 swaps. No 3 in the past 6 months and no 1s in the past year. If you don't fit these requirements, and want to join, please PM me.

I borrowed this swap from thehurriedmommy, who did it in 2012 but has not logged into Swap-Bot since last January 2013.