TikTok teaches us new things constantly. This particular lesson comes to us courtesy of the Lone Star State. Jasmine Taylor, 31, from Amarillo, is here to tell her story.
She was once $70,000 in debt but now she is on the way to making her first million. So, how did this happen? A cash-stuffing business.
As she’s shared on TikTok, when she first lost her job back in 2021, she was struggling mightily. She had $60,000 in student loans and an additional $9,000 in credit card and medical debt.
This is when she came across the process known as “cash stuffing.” This is when debit and credit cards are put away. From there, all of the cash that you are going to need is placed in different envelopes.
Your rent money has its envelope, same with your grocery money. “I put aside money for bills in envelopes. I put money aside for variable expenses, which is weekly spending,” she explained in a video by CNBC Make It. “Then you also put money aside for ‘sinking funds,’ which are like little short-term or long-term savings accounts,” she continued. This can include a vacation or holiday expenses.
“It was life-changing for me. I was not managing my money. I needed to take accountability for my previous financial mistakes,” Jasmine went on to say. To help take accountability for her finances, Jasmine decided to start a business to sell the idea of cash stuffing to others.
“I went from swiping a credit card and not really understanding where my money was going to having to tangibly handle the cash. There’s this money that’s unaccounted for that I was wasting frivolously, impulsively spending,” she explains in the video. “When you add it all up at the end of the month, it’s $400 or $500, and I’m wondering why I’m struggling to pay certain bills or struggling to make it to the next check.”
Within one year, she was able to save $1,000 and knock $32,000 off her debt, and successfully grew a business based on cash stuffing! “It’s a really surreal feeling when you’re a person who has mismanaged money all their life, when you finally get to the point where it’s like, ‘OK, I can do this,'” she continued.
Cash stuffing has received plenty of criticism since cash loses value to inflation and is often more tedious to use for things like paying rent or making online transactions. In a digital world, there are plenty of budget solutions that mimic cash-stuffing, like Ally’s bucket system which allows customers to earn interest while separting money in “buckets” (similar to envelopes).
Despite the criticisms, Taylor is making good money by selling the cash-stuffing system and there’s something to be said for that!
To find out more about her business, check out the video below: