Here's what's wrong with the ‘100 envelope' method and TikTok's other viral savings challenges (2024)

  • TikTok has become one of the most popular sources for financial tips and advice, particularly amongGeneration Z.
  • "Cash stuffing," the "100 envelope" method and the "no-spend" challenge are a few of the latest money-saving trends going viral.
  • Rather than hop on the newest fad, which may be hard to sustain in the long run, establishing a routine is necessary for building wealth, experts say.

If you're having money problems, someone on TikTok has a solution.

Between "cash stuffing," the "100 envelope" method or the "no-spend" challenge, there's no shortage of suggestions to better your financial standing.

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"The gamification can be kind of fun," said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate. But like any other quick fix, these can be hard to maintain over time, he added.

How these savings challenges work

The "100 envelope" method suggests saving a dollar more each day for 100 days. Onthe first day you'll set aside $1, then $2 the next day and so on, so by the endofthe 100-day period, you will have more than $5,000 set aside.

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The approach has proved so popular, there are now more than 1,000 specifically designed kits, trackers and binders dedicated to this money-saving trend for sale on Amazon.

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What to know before taking advice from TikTok

More young adults are also trying another envelope method, or "cash stuffing," to stay on budget and out of debt.

The premise is simple: Spending money is divided up into envelopes representing your monthly expenses, such as groceries and gas. When the cash in one envelope is spent, you're either done spending in that category for that month, or you need to borrow from another envelope.

Alternatively, the "no-spend" challenge advocates eliminating all nonessential purchases altogether for a week, a month or even a full year, and putting the money that would go otherwise go to Starbucks coffees, dinners out and new clothes toward a long-term financial goal.

'Walk before you run'

"I would definitely stress walking before you run," Rossman said.

Rather than hop on the latest extreme fad, which may be hard to sustain, "it comes back to setting a budget and setting expectations," he said.

Budgeting can help to balance immediate, short-term and long-term needs, data fromThe Pew Charitable Trusts found, and automatic savings can reduce the effort required to rebuild savings.

Rossman advises having money regularly transferred from your paycheck to a savings account. "You're less likely to miss what you don't see," he said.

Establishing such a routine is necessary for building wealth, other experts also say.

There's no secret to successful money habits, added Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree and author of "Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More."

"With diets or with money, sometimes these fads catch fire, but the truth is that success with eating healthy or saving money is just about doing the same boring things consistently over and over again over time," Schulz said.

"It may not make for great TikTok content, but it really is the wisest way to go about doing things," he added.

A better way to save

TikTok's latest savings trends seem like a good idea "with a relatively low ceiling," Schulz said, however, "if there's ever been a time when you shouldn't stick your money in a binder, it's today when you can get 4% to 5% or more back in these high-yield savings accounts."

After a series ofinterest rate hikesfrom theFederal Reserve, some top-yielding online savings account rates are now paying even more than 5%, according to Bankrate.com — well above the rate of inflation.

For example, if you have $5,000 in a high-yield savings account earning 5%, you'll make roughly $250 in interest in a year.

Other downsides of keeping cash

Stashing cash not only forfeits the best returns in decades, it also leave youvulnerable to theft and could forgo the protections that come with consumer banking.

Whether and to what extent you are covered in case of a burglary may depend on your home insurance policy, whereasbanks are covered by the FDIC, which insures your money for up to $250,000 per depositor, per account ownership category.

Vet financial advice from social media

For consumers in search of sound financial advice, "it's important to consider who is proving the content," Schulz said.

Like all things on social media,not all of the "expert" advice you see is necessarily true, or the best fit for your financial situation.While there are ways to vet traditional financial advisors, it's much harder to find out the intentions or possible conflicts of interest of someone offering advice online.

"A lot of time you need to take TikTok financial content with a giant grain of salt," Schulz said.

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Here's what's wrong with the ‘100 envelope' method and TikTok's other viral savings challenges (2024)

FAQs

What is a great principal for saving money? ›

Pay Yourself First means putting a portion of your money into a savings account before allocating the rest to your expenses. This is a crucial principle to successfully saving your money, and it can be done by including saving as an expense item in your spending plan.

What is the savings challenge? ›

Match each week's savings amount with the number of the week in your challenge. In other words, you'll save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week, and so on until you put away $52 in week 52.

Does the 100 envelope challenge work? ›

The benefit of the 100 Envelopes Challenge is that it starts small and encourages constant, conscious saving that builds quickly. But the trend—and the internet's obsession with buying “aesthetic” envelopes for it—may not be the most effective way to put away money, according to financial experts.

What is the 365 day money challenge? ›

You'll put one penny in the jar on Day 1, two pennies on Day 2, and so on until you're putting 365 pennies on the last day of the year. (Of course, you could start using larger denominations as long as you're putting in the correct amount).

How can I save $10,000 in 4 months? ›

over the payment frequency, which in this case will be 10,000÷9. so that means you need to save 1100 and $12. per payment period to save up $10,000 within 4 months. if you wanna get started on your budgeting journey.

How can I save $10000 a year weekly? ›

The easiest way to do this is by setting monthly savings goals. To save $10,000 in a year, you'll need to save about $833 each month, or around $192 per week. You can look through your budget for ways to reallocate more of your money toward savings.

What is a millionaire's best friend? ›

It may sound like an intimidating term, but it really isn't once you know what it means. Here's a little secret: compound interest is a millionaire's best friend. It's really free money.

What is the 50 30 20 rule? ›

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.

What is the 80 20 rule in saving money? ›

YOUR BUDGET

The 80/20 budget is a simpler version of it. Using the 80/20 budgeting method, 80% of your income goes toward monthly expenses and spending, while the other 20% goes toward savings and investments.

How much can you save with the 100 envelope challenge? ›

The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.

What is the 52-week rule? ›

There are no complicated rules to remember. Week 1, you save $1.00. Week 2 you save $2.00, and it continues through the year, adding one more dollar to each week's savings goal. By Week 52, you'll set aside $52.00, which will bring the year's total savings to $1,378!

How fast can you save $5,000 dollars? ›

Break It Down Into Months

The first step to reaching any financial goal is to break it into bite-sized pieces. If you want to save $5,000 in one year, you'll need to save approximately $417 a month. That's about $97 a week. Saving almost $100 a week may be a lot depending on your finances.

How to save $5000 in 3 months with 100 envelopes? ›

The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.

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