Cash stuffing

[Poppins17]

Recently someone on Instagram shared a tik tok video about cash stuffing.

I know years ago families would withdraw cash and then split it out across the week and that was how they budgeted, but I didn’t realise it was now a ‘modern’ way to manage and potentially save money.

I’ve watched some videos on it, on tik tok, instagram and you tube and have the premise of it now, but would be interested to hear how it works in reality, and also the best way to keep the binders safe in your home.

Thanks for any advice!

Before you start , I’d check your house contents insurance to see if you are covered, how much for and what is the excess. People who do this and post about it on SM have been burgled.

I really wouldn't bother tbh. You can get the same benefit virtually by setting up standing orders to split your money into different accounts, without the risk of loss/theft or inconvenience of paying for everything in cash, which is often more expensive or not always accepted.

I'd be interested to hear how it could potentially save money, because I can't see how, unless it's that you can't actually spend the money because the place doesn't accept cash or it's a faff to do. For example, how would you even pay a mortgage, water bill or mobile phone bill in cash?

I do a similar version of this, but online.

Payday is say 1st of the month. All my direct debits come out between 1st and 4th. Everything. Then I have standing orders set up to other smaller bank accounts that I've named eg car/holiday/Christmas/savings/clothes & shoes etc.

Then, once everything is paid/transferred I have a clear picture of the money I have left for food and incidentals.

I can divide that by 28/29/30/31 and I know exactly how much I have per day/week. If there's any leftover this goes in another pot to be used if needed, or added to the savings pot.

I know someone who does it for food shopping only because she was an absolute nightmare for buying stuff that looked nice without thinking what she would actually eat.

She has £X to spend each week on food/snacks/coffee. She takes it out on a Saturday morning, does her main food shop and then uses whatever is left for any top ups, but no more.

She finds it easier because she can see what she is spending, and it forces her to menu plan. Also not to have two Costas a day and then wonder why she's down £50.

Just get a Monzo account

I'm more likely to spend cash in my pocket on frivolities tbh

If you have a bank account like Monzo that allows you to put money into "pots" for different things that seems like a better approach to me. The only benefit of cash stuffing is that it's cash and there is an idea that when you see the money you spend it more consciously. But I think being able to instantly check the state of things via an app on your phone can have a similar effect.

I have all my direct debits for bills, mortgage, savings etc coming out the account I get paid into. Everything else goes to my Monzo account and gets instantly divided up into things like food, travel, and hair and beauty pots (I let it accumulate over the months to save up for things like a haircut). Then, I know that whatever isn't allocated to a pot is my "spending" money for the month. Similar system but without having piles of cash lying around and much easier to keep count of!

Using cash for a while, for a category in which you constantly overspend, can help you to feel the pain of the spending.

I would not do it for everything though, as a lot of spending is routine. It is categories like food, eating out, that are where you may be overspending.

See I’m the complete opposite. I am much less likely to give it away if it’s actual money in my hand!
I presume that is the idea behind it as a money saving thing.

I use an app called Goodbudget which does a similar thing, but virtually. You create ‘envelopes’ and split your account balance across these envelopes. It’s more of a faff because it relies on being updated every time you spend, rather than just running down a pile of cash, however you can automate regular spending (bills, standing orders etc) and I find it useful to be able to see how much I’ve spent in various places, and you get into the habit of taking 10 seconds to add it in. I’ve been sweeping a little bit regularly from various envelopes into a Christmas Fund envelope since July which has put me in a better position for the festive season.