Cash Stuffing is a budgeting method that allows you to physically portion out your weekly or monthly income into different spending categories.
This money management system has been around for years, but cash stuffing or the envelope budgeting method has taken on new life from high-profile exposure on TikTok.
The concept is simple: Take a few envelopes, write a specific expense category on each one — like Food Shopping, Rent, Petrol, Holiday etc — and then put the money you plan to spend on those things into the envelopes.
Cash stuffing doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require some organization and planning on your part. The three steps below outline how you can begin your budgeting journey:
1. Work out your budget. Start with your income. Work out how much you need to leave in the bank for your direct debits and standing orders. Then work out what you can afford to withdraw. You may choose to keep a small buffer in the bank incase of any incidents such as bill amounts varying etc
2. Once you have withdrawn the cash you need to decide what categories you want to put your money in. Now although all your bills money is in the bank there may be other unavoidable this you need to pay such as food shop, petrol, eating out etc. Make sure you really think about this. Things like those random trips to the supermarket for bread and milk or the kids needing money for school trips etc. Once you have put your chosen amounts into these categories you are left with what you can save.
3. Pick the catergories you want to save for. Now this varies for everyone. Just as an example I save for my Hair, School Holidays, Holiday, Weekend Away, Date Night, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Birthdays, Christmas etc just to name a few but your choices may be totally different.
You don’t need fancy binders and trackers to get started you can just use envelopes so don’t feel like you don’t have what you need to start because you do!
H A P P Y S A V I N G!!!!