Discover the 'fun' budgeting trick that saved this woman thousands!
By
Seia Ibanez
- Replies 6
Saving money can often feel like a chore, especially when you want to be financially responsible.
But what if there was a way to make it fun and rewarding?
Enter the 100 Envelope Challenge, a creative budgeting hack that has helped many people save thousands of dollars and fund their dream holidays.
Milly, a savvy saver from the United Kingdom, shared her experience with the 100 Envelope Challenge on her social media.
She revealed that this innovative method helped her save £5,050 ($9,760 AUD), which she used to pay for her dream holiday.
So, how does the 100 Envelope Challenge work?
The challenge requires a tracker, which can be a simple chart you create yourself or one downloaded from the internet.
The tracker should have numbers from 1 to 100. The idea is to save money corresponding to each number on the tracker. For instance, if you mark off the number 1, you save $1 (or £1 in Milly’s case), if you mark off 2, you save $2, and so on.
The money saved can be stored in an envelope folder system like Milly's, regular paper envelopes, or even a box or bag.
'Then once all the 100 pockets are filled, you would have saved £5,050 (AUD $9,760) at the end,’ Milly said.
‘Just think of all the things you can do with money. Saving doesn't have to be boring and this was such a fun challenge for me to save for my dream [holiday].’
She is now starting the challenge again, proving that this method can be repeated for continuous savings.
You can watch her video below:
Credit: @budgetwithmilly / TikTok
While the 100 Envelope Challenge is a fantastic way to save, it's important to note that it works best with a solid budgeting system.
Milly used the cash-stuffing budgeting method, which involves allocating cash to different categories of expenses, such as food, beauty, bills, and transportation.
In another video, Milly demonstrated how she sorted through her cash wallet to determine how much she can put towards the challenge.
She has pouches in her wallet for various expenses, each containing the total amount of money she can spend on those things in her pay cycle.
'Let's see what's leftover in my cash wallet. For food, I have £20 (AUD $39) left, which means I spent £40 (AUD $78). For beauty, I started with £100 (AUD $194) pounds and still have quite a lot left this is because I didn't get my eyelashes done this month, so we saved £50 (AUD $97),' she explained.
By assessing her leftover cash, Milly can decide how much she can afford to put towards the challenge and which numbers on the tracker she can mark off.
Watch her cash-stuffing video below:
Credit: @budgetwillmilly / TikTok
The 100 Envelope Challenge and the cash-stuffing budgeting method are just two of the many creative ways to save money.
For instance, you can revisit some tried-and-true or ‘vintage’ methods for saving money this 2024. Incorporating these into your financial strategy may help you save more and be responsible with your finances. Learn more about them here.
Have you tried the 100 Envelope Challenge or any other creative saving methods? We'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.
But what if there was a way to make it fun and rewarding?
Enter the 100 Envelope Challenge, a creative budgeting hack that has helped many people save thousands of dollars and fund their dream holidays.
Milly, a savvy saver from the United Kingdom, shared her experience with the 100 Envelope Challenge on her social media.
She revealed that this innovative method helped her save £5,050 ($9,760 AUD), which she used to pay for her dream holiday.
So, how does the 100 Envelope Challenge work?
The challenge requires a tracker, which can be a simple chart you create yourself or one downloaded from the internet.
The tracker should have numbers from 1 to 100. The idea is to save money corresponding to each number on the tracker. For instance, if you mark off the number 1, you save $1 (or £1 in Milly’s case), if you mark off 2, you save $2, and so on.
The money saved can be stored in an envelope folder system like Milly's, regular paper envelopes, or even a box or bag.
'Then once all the 100 pockets are filled, you would have saved £5,050 (AUD $9,760) at the end,’ Milly said.
‘Just think of all the things you can do with money. Saving doesn't have to be boring and this was such a fun challenge for me to save for my dream [holiday].’
She is now starting the challenge again, proving that this method can be repeated for continuous savings.
You can watch her video below:
Credit: @budgetwithmilly / TikTok
While the 100 Envelope Challenge is a fantastic way to save, it's important to note that it works best with a solid budgeting system.
Milly used the cash-stuffing budgeting method, which involves allocating cash to different categories of expenses, such as food, beauty, bills, and transportation.
In another video, Milly demonstrated how she sorted through her cash wallet to determine how much she can put towards the challenge.
She has pouches in her wallet for various expenses, each containing the total amount of money she can spend on those things in her pay cycle.
'Let's see what's leftover in my cash wallet. For food, I have £20 (AUD $39) left, which means I spent £40 (AUD $78). For beauty, I started with £100 (AUD $194) pounds and still have quite a lot left this is because I didn't get my eyelashes done this month, so we saved £50 (AUD $97),' she explained.
By assessing her leftover cash, Milly can decide how much she can afford to put towards the challenge and which numbers on the tracker she can mark off.
Watch her cash-stuffing video below:
Credit: @budgetwillmilly / TikTok
The 100 Envelope Challenge and the cash-stuffing budgeting method are just two of the many creative ways to save money.
For instance, you can revisit some tried-and-true or ‘vintage’ methods for saving money this 2024. Incorporating these into your financial strategy may help you save more and be responsible with your finances. Learn more about them here.
Key Takeaways
- Milly shared a budgeting trick known as the 100 Envelope challenge, which helped her save thousands and fund her dream holiday.
- The challenge involves saving money corresponding to 1 to 100, eventually accumulating a total of £5,050 when using pounds (AUD $9,760).
- The savings can be stored in envelopes, a folder, or even a box, and checking off each saved amount on a tracker.
- Milly also utilised a cash stuffing method for budgeting, where she allocated set amounts of money for various expenses and saved the remainder for challenges like this.