Savings Challenges and Budget Habits
365-day savings challenge.
Pick your first-day deposit and how much it rises each day. See the year total, the month-end running totals and what you have saved by today. Works for the penny-a-day version or any amount. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.
Your challenge
Your year
Fill the form and press Calculate.
Worked example
Start at 1 cent and add 1 cent each day for 365 days. Day 1 is $0.01 and day 365 is $3.65. The total is $667.95: 365 x $0.01 plus $0.01 x 365 x 364 / 2. By the end of day 59 (the end of February in a normal year) you have $17.70. Start at $1 and add $1 a day and the total is $66,795.00, with a day-365 deposit of $365, so most people use cents. A leap year of 366 days at 1 cent totals $671.61. Adding 2 cents a day instead of 1 gives $1,332.25.
How it works
In a 366-day year, day 366 is shown in the December row, so the last row matches the headline total.
deposit on day d = first-day deposit + (d - 1) x daily increase. Total = days x first-day deposit + increase x days x (days - 1) / 2. Descending reverses the order. Month-end rows use the lengths of a normal 365-day year (February 28 days), so they match a calendar only when the challenge starts on January 1.
No interest is included. To see what the same monthly amounts could grow to, use the savings goal calculator.
Sources and basis (opened 2026-10-08): arithmetic on the numbers you enter. No prices, rates or national averages are assumed.
FAQ
How much do you save with a penny a day, rising a penny each day?
Over 365 days you save $667.95. Day 1 is 1 cent and day 365 is $3.65.
How much is the 365 day challenge at a dollar a day?
Starting at $1 and adding $1 each day totals $66,795.00, with $365 due on the last day, so it is a large commitment.
Does a leap year change the total?
Yes. At 1 cent rising 1 cent over 366 days the total is $671.61.
What if I miss a day?
Add the missed deposit to a later day, or restart the day count. The total only depends on the deposits you actually make.
Can I do it in reverse?
Yes, pick descending. The total is identical; the biggest deposits come first.