The best savings challenge for a couple is one that feels fair to both of you and runs automatically once agreed. If your incomes are similar, a shared version of a classic challenge, such as both doing the 52-Week Challenge for £2,756 between you, works well. If one of you earns much more, saving the same percentage of income each is usually fairer than saving the same amount.
Here are five challenges designed for two people, how to set them up in the UK, and the common sticking points to sort out first.
Before you start: agree the goal and the set-up
Ten minutes of planning saves weeks of arguments. Agree three things:
- The goal: a specific target and date, such as £3,000 for a holiday by next August, or a house deposit. Use the savings goal calculator to work out the monthly amount.
- Where the money goes: a joint easy access savings account, or two individual accounts tracked together. ISAs are always individual: there are no joint ISAs, but each of you has your own £20,000 allowance.
- What happens if it goes wrong: what you will do if one of you misses a week, and who owns the money if you split up. Couples who are not married have fewer automatic legal protections, so keep a simple written note of who paid in what for large joint savings.
Challenge 1: the double 52-Week Challenge
Each of you saves £1 in week 1, £2 in week 2, and so on up to £52 in week 52. That is £1,378 each, or £2,756 together over a year. December is the hardest month, when you each need about £200 just before Christmas, so many couples run it in reverse, starting with £52 in week 1 while January resolve is high.
Variation for different incomes: the higher earner takes the larger weeks and the lower earner the smaller ones, alternating through the chart. Track it with the 52-Week Challenge tracker.
Challenge 2: proportional matched saving
You both save the same percentage of take-home pay, so the contribution feels equally hard for each of you. Raise the percentage by one point every few months.
| Take-home pay | Partner A £2,400 | Partner B £1,600 | Together |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | £120 | £80 | £200 |
| 10% | £240 | £160 | £400 |
| 15% | £360 | £240 | £600 |
At 10% this couple saves £4,800 a year. Set up two standing orders into the joint savings account for the day after payday and the challenge runs itself. Our guide to splitting finances as a couple covers the same proportional approach for bills.
Challenge 3: the no-spend weekend duo
Once a month, have a weekend where neither of you spends anything beyond essentials already planned. Swap the usual meal out, shopping trip or takeaway for free alternatives: a walk, a film at home, cooking together, a free museum. Estimate what a normal weekend costs you as a couple and transfer that amount to savings on Monday. If a normal weekend costs you £80, twelve no-spend weekends adds £960 to your pot. The No-Spend Challenge tracker helps you keep score.
Challenge 4: the 1p Challenge race
Each of you does the 1p Challenge: save 1p on day 1, 2p on day 2, rising to £3.65 on day 365, for £667.95 each and £1,335.90 together. Make it a race by checking streaks every Sunday, with the loser cooking dinner. To avoid an expensive December, one of you can run it in reverse (starting at £3.65 and going down), which also balances your combined daily total. The 1p Challenge calculator shows your running total. Each of you logging the day's amount in SYM makes the streak visible to both.
Challenge 5: monthly money date and goal pot
Once a month, sit down together for 30 minutes to review what you saved, check spending against your plan, and agree one change for next month, such as cancelling a subscription or switching a bill. Anything you save from those changes goes straight into the shared goal pot. Keep it relaxed: a takeaway you have budgeted for or a walk works better than a spreadsheet interrogation. Our money date night guide has an agenda you can borrow.
Money boosts couples often miss
- Marriage Allowance: if you are married or in a civil partnership and one of you earns under £12,570 while the other is a basic rate taxpayer, you could save up to £252 a year, with backdating to April 2022. See our Marriage Allowance claim guide.
- Two Personal Savings Allowances: keeping savings in the name of the lower-rate taxpayer can mean less tax on interest.
- Two ISA allowances: £40,000 a year between you.
- FSCS protection: joint accounts are covered up to £120,000 for each account holder at each authorised firm.
- Credit files: a joint credit product, such as a joint current account with an overdraft or a joint loan, links your credit files. A joint savings account does not.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good savings challenge for couples?
Should couples have a joint savings account?
How should couples split savings if one earns more?
Can couples open a joint ISA?
Does a joint savings account affect my credit score?
- couples savings
- savings challenge
- saving money
- relationships
- UK savings