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So all I have to do is get a bunch of tiktok followers and sell them money making classes? Why hasn't anyone thought of that already?!

Edit: money-'saving' classes. Nice way to physically budget so you see how big each envelope you 'stuff' with expenses and are not just looking at numbers

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One thing I’ve never understood about this is do you just drain your checking account every month of all the money that gets automatically deposited in there? And then how do you pay your bills that are either online only or auto pay?

No, you're set money aside, not draining your accounts. And if you're getting your finances under control you'd want as little auto pay as possible to keep track of your outgoing cash

She didn’t invent the idea. She’s just the one who made $1 mil last year while we were making fun of people’s business plans on Reddit.

Cash stuffing=envelope system

I got a new desk chair and groceries with mine, lol. My back feels a lot better. Worth it.

Its not a bad way to make money if you know what you are doing. Obviously you have to build up client base and give out solid advice

I am not even mad. That one guy in TN makes money selling the same thing. If she gets a piece of the pie before he does, kudos.

> money that gets automatically deposited in there

Not everyone has direct deposit, and some people may opt-out in order to get control of their finances. Plus, direct deposit was probably less common when the envelope system was invented.

But yes, on the extreme end, you would withdraw all of your money every check or month to put into envelopes. Then deposit back what you need for online transactions.

Realistically, with a little bit of foresight and math, you could only withdraw what you need to.

I recently started watching people do cash stuffings on YouTube (including her! I've seen some of her videos). I don't do it personally because I don't really like carrying physical cash. I use YNAB which is basically a virtual cash envelope system. But with that said I think it's fun watching how people set up their cash binders, how they organize their money, etc. So I basically just watch them for inspiration.

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It's literally just Dave Ramsey, same system different packaging. The problem with money management "Gurus" like these is that they advise you to fully swear off credit and pay in full. That isn't smart if you actually want to buy a house or get a business loan in the future. You need to manage your finances and incorporate healthy credit habits. Dave Ramsey may be a millionaire, but it's because he sells you this advice and products to use with it. He would not have that kind of money from envelope budgeting alone.

>if you're getting your finances under control you'd want as little auto pay as possible to keep track of your outgoing cash

There are many ways to keep track of expenses that don't require you manually setting up payments for the same 8 things every month.

YNAB cuts into my allowance a little too much, maybe if i got my 2k it would be easier.

Credit is not worth it if you have zero discipline, my families credit cards have been busted for poor credit, without debit cards international commerce would have been impossible.

I said heathy credit habits.

So for the rest of us... envelope system=what?

Looks like "cash your paycheque, put some into an envelope for bills, some into an envelope for entertainment, etc., repeat until you're out of cash">?

The envelope system is a method of budgeting where you have envelopes with categories written on them. You put a certain amount of cash in each envelope. So one for entertainment, one for restaurants, one for groceries, etc. When the envelope is empty, you are out of money for that category until the next paycheck or month, depending on your budgeting cycle.

It’s my dream to be able to do something like that and find it fun. My anxiety went off just reading you describe watching people talking about money.

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Good on her but don’t tell her clients about YNAB

Ohhhh. I did that with jars because of Gail Vaz-Oxlade on "Til Debt Do us Part" Super handy budgeting system.

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This is true. People who perpetually disassociate card spending with the cold hard cash they have in their account will never be able to build credit. More often than not they have psychological issues that need attention and treatment. This disassociation is common in people with addictions. Most common is gambling addictions but can also be materialism, hoarding, etc. These are VERY hard to overcome.

Yeah headline is stupid. Made it seem like her stimulus check is what got her business going.

Judging by the poster I assumed cash stuffing was something about sex or porn.

She's mostly selling physical products and some PDF templates

>cash stuffings

Mattress to us old folks.

Or mayonnaise jar. 😆

I googled cash stuffing and don't see how this will make me rich. Its just a budgetting technique not an actual business practice to earn money.

Bro my grandpa had an older guy teach him this system when he joined the army in the early 40s. Giving too much credit to the grifter Dave.

I like YNAB.

I'm not saying Dave created it. He just pushed it with a religious twist.

That's my egg peeling jar

Auto pay is the way to go. Why would anyone argue that it is a bad thing? It is super predictable and ensures your bills are paid on time. You should only ever have to manage discretionary spending. Things like Rent isn’t optional and should be paid using auto pay.

Opting out of direct deposit and / or removing all of your money from the bank each month is a ridiculous way to “manage” money.

Right, but not every system works for every person. Just like other vices, some people can’t handle credit and that’s ok. Sure it comes with other challenges but for some people those challenges are easier to manage than credit.

They all rich and can give advise like that because they can pay in cash for everything.

They also assume everyone is an imbecile and can't handle money.

I was just as confused as you. Better headline would be "31-year-old sells 'cash stuffing' budgeting knowledge to make $1million dollars"

advice*

Made fancy envelopes for people jumping on a TikTok trend, weird how we wouldn’t glorify a Trump hat sale-person the same way

Just to be clear, this isn't a case of "You can pay off six figure debts in a year with $1200"

She created a business that was very luckily a fantastic take off. Good for her, but it doesn't really mean much for the rest of us.

(Stupid) Question: For something like car insurance, are they mailing cash? Or is the cash just symbolically in the envelope and gets deposited back into the bank in time for a normal check to clear? Or what? (I have been autopay everything for decades so I have no idea how this works)

Ok maybe I'm too European to understand this but why would you pay a business money to help you put your money in envelopes Couldn't you like... Buy 1000 envelopes or whatever and do it yourself?

I'm really really just confused about the business model here. Are they financial advisors? Are they a company that sells envelopes? I've never heard of anything like this hence the confusion.

Two options:

Buy envelopes, write the category names on them, store cash in them. Very DIY.

Pay for budgeting software/app that offers the digital equivalent of envelopes. Still DIY to a degree because you have to set up and maintain the categories, with the added benefit of not having to deal with cash.

Oh so this person created a digital business? That makes more sense, oke. Thanks :)

So this is a fancy way of budgeting and saving money? Envelopes?

Can you not just open new accounts? Here in NZ I just have multiple different accounts that are labeled pretty much like these envelopes. On pay day a whole bunch of automatic transfers suck money into each one of those accounts. No need for custom software and it costs zero $.

Maybe its just about not using credit cards. Most people still need to loan money for house or cars, but using credit cards as a buffer account is not very smart. But it seems to be very common in the US.

Fine as long as you pay by end of month, expensive to be poor if not.

I use cash stuffing digitally. I have a budget and several accounts I place money in as soon as my paycheck comes in. Then I transfer from these accounts to my debit card to keep myself within budget.

Someone fixing their finances by becoming an influencer is not a feel good story.

Clearly cash isn’t the only thing she’s been stuffing.

Maybe people who need an envelope system are not as fussy about spending money as you and I are ;D

I don't know if any banks in the US offer this. My bank does have a checking/savings account that has a "reserve" account that can be used to separate money. It's like having 3 accounts. But this wouldn't really be a good envelope system.

Personally, I like the zero dollar budget where you assign every dollar to a category. It's similar to the envelope system. When you run out of money in a category you stop spending on that category. Although my system has become more of an accounting system rather than a budgeting system since I just assign my monthly transactions to categories at the end of the month. It still helps me track what I'm spending money on. I'm fortunate enough to have 0 debt and a healthy income.

If you want to get started with a zero dollar budget, Dave Ramsey has a free app called Every Dollar. It's what I started on before moving to a custom spreadsheet.

Banking seems really weird in the US. I have 17 accounts for my budgeting and could open more if I wanted very easily online or via an app. Don't you guys also have some bullshit with bank transfers and stuff which is why things like Venmo exist?

Banking in the US feels like it's stuck in the 70s. Since banks have better online tools. That's about all we can do.

Loved YNAB and used it back when it was a one-time purchase software you could use. When it went to the new model with the website and everything, kept using the software until that went to poo and they pushed hard for the website service. It was a shame to see the original version get left in the dust.

Never used the original version, so I can’t make the same comparison, but I still like it. It’s way better than actual cash envelopes and still does the best of any program I’ve used. Do you have a different program you prefer?

I came here to say this lol

It depends. I work in finance and met a guy who took Dave Ramsey to heart, at least the biblical parts. He sold his house and car, then bought a cash car and rents a home now. Said he didn't want to be in debt to anyone, but failed to see how being a renter was much worse. I agree with you about credit cards though, they are a nice feature if you are responsible. However, most americans use it as a slush fund to cover bills they can't normally do.

was looking for this

I assumed they were just posting their techniques on social media and YouTube and making money through advertising.

This isn't a new technique, my mom and grandmother used to do this but they used old jam-jars, that was when people were paid weekly in cash and most purchases were made in cash.

Probably on purpose so rich assholes can have some fodder in the media to be like "see! Your measly stimulus checks did last 3 years, you lazy peasants."

Thanks for doing the work to get to the bottom of this.

That was my question too.

You can't just mail cash, so you have to deposit it in order to pay.

Seems like a lot of extra steps, but if that's what it takes to help you budget and save then why not?

From the article:

>she turned cash stuffing into a business — Baddies and Budgets — through which she sells money courses, budgeting supplies and other accessories.

Her website literally does sell physical envelopes. She did not write a piece of software to help people budget.

The article says that as she started gathering an audience from her envelope-stuffing techniques, she began making personalized embroidered money binders due to not many places make them.

Could you do this with just paper envelopes? Yes. But I think some folks respond better with fabric and plastic that just paper.

I just use a spreadsheet and keep track of my purchases. I don't get why people need anything more elaborate than this

Yes thank you, none of this was obvious at all

They sell the special little binders that hold the special plastic, zippered envelopes, that make it more fun and a little easier to use the envelope method.

https://baddiesandbudgets.com/en-ca/collections/for-the-beginner

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I don't use them, but they're some of those products that give the illusion of productivity :P

That’s not at all where I thought this was going when I heard “cash stuffing”, “tik tok”, and saw the photo on the wall.

Selling stuff to people who want to save money. Brilliant!

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This seems like another “avocado toast” piece. But good for her

Aside from not everyone owning a computer, being able to afford Microsoft Office and knowing how to use it, it’s also enormously stressful to even use Excel for some people, including me. My hands start to shake and my heart races if I so much as think about using Excel like this.

You mean reading?

When introduced to it, I had zero money to spend on YNAB, so I found a PDF of the book online, read it, and taught myself how to make an Excel spreadsheet. Excel can get pretty complicated, but basic functions like adding up all the numbers in a row are super easy, and you can google how to do pretty much everything if you forget. In fact you can just google "Excel budget sheet" can find a step by step guide or maybe even a template you can download that let's you plug in values. Even if you can't afford Excel, Google Sheets is almost the exact same thing for free. YNAB is more about a state of mind than the program anyway. Don't spend more than you have, and be mindful and purposeful about where the money you do spend is going.

Never spent a cent.

Thanks a lot man, i always wondered how to activate the budget functions on an excel spreadsheet. With that tip i can now write an entire budget without straining my hands.

Sorry, it's hard to tell over text, but are you disappointed I didn't go into more detail about excel's functions? Because I wrote that comment to show how you can still use YNAB's methods without purchasing the program.

If anyone finds a lot of value in the product, of course they can keep using it! But the original comment seemed distressed about the price, so I wanted to let people know it IS possible to use the method without paying for YNAB, I myself did it. And I'm NOT some finance master, or even that good at excel lol

And I didn't go into any details about how I set up my spreadsheet because I learned my excel skills from google, and often have to re-google how to do stuff I don't do regularly, so I don't consider myself good enough at Excel to do any detailed teaching.

Or do you think I was being condescending by giving super obvious information? Because I never meant to offend, I was trying to uplift. I've posted before on reddit about using the YNAB method without spending money and got a few replies asking how, so I wanted to go ahead and offer up that information first thing, for anyone scrolling by, in case it was helpful. You never know who's reading and where they're at in life

No no no nothing like that, i know excel how-to videos exist, i just didn't know to find them. XD

Let me be even more clear.

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>Sorry, it's hard to tell over text, but are you disappointed I didn't go into more detail about excel's functions?

No not at all, with the term "Excel budget sheet" it makes my task a whole lot easier.

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>Or do you think I was being condescending by giving super obvious information?

No no no not at all, every bit of info helps.

What kind of idiot needs this system?

Wow, so I have never been in debt or had less than a couple hundred dollars as an adult, can I become an influencer budgeting knowledge billionaire?

Oh, excellent! :D

I just wanted to be extra sure, you never know with this place, right?

Meh as long as you avoid politics and religion this place is pretty chill, almost boring actually.

You got to admit the flamewars back in the forum days were excellent popcorn material.

Haha, in the old days I was unfortunately the one IN the war, not watching on the sidelines

So many hours I'll never get back :')

People without impulse control. There's a psychological reason behind why it works with physical money. Since you see how much you spend and how much you have left, you are more likely to think about purchases before making them. It also takes self discipline or an accountability partner.

One question. Where is that 1 million going to go? Into the bank or a huge safe in her house?

So from what I've seen people will physically save up for maybe sinking funds or their emergency fund and once they get to their goal point they will re-deposit it into the bank. I personally am too lazy to do this so that is why I wouldn't get into physical cash stuffings but I can understand why people do it. Some people need something tactile and in person to really get where their money is going and what they're doing with it.

Speaking of myself personally I am not really much of an Excel budgeting kind of person, I've tried it but I just have hard time staying motivated to use it. Admittedly I find having these aesthetically pleasing cash envelopes/binders and these elaborate set-ups a little extra but it helps people budget and get their finances together. Different things work for different people, so why not?

Looks like all she has been stuffing is her face

So that’s why she’s obese, maybe she should do the same with her food.