When I first heard about cash stuffing, I thought it sounded old-fashioned, like something my grandma would do. But once I tried it, I realized how effective it really is for saving and budgeting. There’s something about physically handling your money that makes you more mindful of every dollar. In this blog, we’ll break down what cash stuffing is, how it works, and how beginners can use it to take control of their finances without feeling overwhelmed.
Zero-Based Budget and Setup:
I’m going to kind of just Dive Right In Here. At the beginning of the month, do make my zero-based budget for everything.
So, my wife and I are self-employed, so we actually pay ourselves once a month, and so I make our budget before the month starts, and what we pay ourselves in any given month.
So, for example, this month is October, so the money that I budgeted for the month of June is actually the money that we made in September, but then we pay ourselves at the beginning of the month.
I make a budget for the entire month, and then I actually go through and um do my cash stuffing process once a week because I like to really just keep a handle on our finances.
All of this is already pre-budgeted for um, but sometimes during the month I do switch some things around just with my categories and the amounts that I’m putting in them based on our needs, and we know what we’ve spent money on and what we’ve got coming up.
Sinking Funds and Planning:
So, I’m going to start with my sinking funds right here, and I um have all my categories listed out.
I’ve had questions about how to type them out on here. I don’t know, I do it on Canva because that’s um where I created these pages in the first place and so I just went through and did my own categories typed them up because it does take a while to write them out and I always have orders that I’m working on so anything I can do to make my life more intentional that’s what I do.
So, okay, I have my pen and I already have my categories listed out, and so I’ve actually already done this for this month. This is something I only do once a month is planning out my sinking funds, because for the most part, A lot of these sinking funds get the same amounts.
You’re gonna get to kind of see the process of what you can do if you’re bi-weekly or paid weekly, or paid monthly.
I do have my notes on the side, just to make this blog not long, I already kind of figured out everything that I wanted to do for this.
So, for groceries this month, for the month of October, we’re budgeting a hundred dollars, and that’s not for our regular grocery budget, that is just for like things that we need to run out and grab really quickly because I do order most of my groceries online.
So, something that I actually do that’s a little bit different, this column right here can be used for like how much you planned and then what your balance is at the end of the month in that specific envelope.
I’m not that detail-oriented, so I actually don’t go through and count every single envelope at the end of the month. I just like to keep an eye on how much money I have in each envelope.
I actually use this column because I paid like well we pay ourselves once a month, but I cash stuff once a week, so I actually write down here how much per week I’m going to be cashing stuff, so that’s what I personally use this column for.
Cash Stuffing Breakdown:
Pet Care is getting 120, Sam’s Club is getting 80, and this is for the whole month, and then miscellaneous is getting 40. So then I do go through and I’m just going to divide these by four, so each week I’d step 10 for medical, I’m going to stuff 20 each week, vehicle maintenance will get 50, Pet Care gets 30. Sam’s Club gets 20. And miscellaneous gets 10. so I do have some that won’t divide perfectly by four because you’re probably thinking well what do you do if you’re gonna you know stuff 50 or you budgeted for 50 and I’m gonna show you that because in this next column so I kind of have these broken up so these are my high priority syncing funds these are my holiday thinking funds and so for example um Valentine’s Day was a bad example Valentine’s Day is getting 20 this month so basically five dollars each week Easter though is only getting ten dollars and so what I do is I just decide how much each week I’m gonna stuff and this is how I write it so nothing weeks one and two week three I’m gonna step five and we form this step five for ten dollars total for Easter and then for Fourth of October and you can do that however you want you could stuff it in the first two weeks or whatever Fourth of October is getting eighty dollars because it’s coming up so we’re stuffing twenty dollars a week in there Halloween is getting 40. Thanksgiving is getting 20. Black Friday is getting 40. Christmas is getting 200.
New Year’s Eve is getting 10 birthday parties. I’m working hard to bulk this one up because all of our birthday parties are in the fall and winter back to school is getting 200, and then spring, summer, fall, and winter, I need to look those up in a different place because those are new envelopes. Seasonal Decor is getting 40. So spring is getting 20. Um, summer is getting okay, I think this is right, 80, and then the other two are getting 20. and this is for the entire month this isn’t for one single cash stuffing so again I’m just gonna go through here and divide these okay so again another one New Year’s Eve is ten dollars and so for this one I didn’t need to write that there but we’re doing 550 and 0 and I do that just to kind of like even it out so like for example Easter I did I’m not stuffing it the first two weeks but I’m stuffing it weeks three and four and then this is opposite just to kind of even out the amount of cash birthday parties is getting 25 for each cash stuffing back to school is getting 50. Spring is getting five, summer is getting 20, winter and fall are both getting five, and then seasonal Decor gets 10. Okay, so then, since I’m right-handed, I usually take this out because it’s hard for me to write with this in the way
Okay, so then the last few categories are my low-priority syncing funds. I should say an hour because it’s both me and my wife we share everything. We share our income and the envelopes and all the things because we’re a team and we work better that way. Cash 400 is what we budget, but I only stuff that the very first week of the month, home renovations are getting 400, and kids are getting 80.
Family fun is getting 80. Antonio gets 40 hockey, he’s getting 160 parking rank is getting 100, and I need to actually talk to my Wife and just see how much we’re actually going to need to save up, I know it’s spendy, but I don’t know how spendy home improvement gets 80 a month, I usually go every three weeks and so it works out perfectly to just basically, do 20 a week gifts is getting 100 date night is also getting 100 organizing is getting 40 memberships is getting 40 seasonal Lawn Care is getting 200 tax prep is another new envelope and that one is going to be getting sixty dollars we pay about 100 about 600 to get our taxes done.
Conclusion:
I hope this blog was helpful. I just really wanted to talk to you guys about my process because I know I talk about it a lot, um, these all tear off and set aside.
When I do my cash stuffing, so that I can look at my denominations when I’m cash stuffing, but I just wanted you guys to see the process start to finish and how you can use these tools to really maximize what you’re doing with your money and enjoy cash stuffing because it really is fun once you get the hang of it.
So, I hope you guys had fun with me, and I cannot wait to see you in my next blog.
FAQs:
1. What is cash stuffing?
Cash stuffing is a budgeting method where you divide your income into labeled envelopes for different expenses.
2. How does a zero-based budget fit into cash stuffing?
You assign every dollar a purpose so your income minus expenses equals zero, keeping you in full control of spending.
3. How often should I do cash stuffing?
You can stuff weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, depending on your pay schedule and budgeting style.
4. What are sinking funds?
Sinking funds are envelopes for future expenses like holidays, birthdays, or car maintenance.
5. Do I need to track every envelope at the end of the month?
Not necessarily, but keeping an eye on balances helps you adjust and stay organized.
6. Why is cash stuffing so effective?
Physically handling your money builds awareness, reduces overspending, and makes saving feel more intentional.