How To Do The 100 Envelope Saving Challenge?

There is a well-liked method for simplifying money management. It’s known as the 100 Envelope Challenge, and it’s ideal for people who are wondering, “How can I save $5,000 in three months?” There’s no need to cut out all extra expenses or live like a minimalist. You only need 100 empty envelopes and some perseverance for this 100-day money challenge. Before you begin taking part in this challenge, there are a few things you should probably be aware of.

What Is The 100 Envelope Challenge

Imagine putting aside $5,000 in just 100 days. It’s called a challenge, but the steps are really quite straightforward. Write the numbers 1 through 100 on 100 empty envelopes that you have. Next, pick a random envelope every day for 100 days. You place the equivalent amount of money to the number on the front of the envelope, whichever number is on the envelope’s front you choose for a given day. After 100 days, you will have amassed $5,050 in savings.

How Does The 100 Envelope Challenge Work

Saving slightly more than $5,000 in 100 days can be motivated by taking on the 100 envelope challenge. This savings tool is a fun way to set aside some extra money for future monetary objectives. Not many of us have thousands of dollars lying around, so the 100-day money challenge adds a twist to the concept of saving money.

The 100-day money challenge began on TikTok as an easy approach, or hack, to saving money. TikTok Invest with Mon explained to followers that this efficient money-saving method could be completed in 100 days or even spread out over a year. 

The 100-envelope challenge is still widely used on social media. You can find several examples of people documenting their 100-day financial challenges to hold themselves accountable for saving $5,000 by searching the hashtag #100envelopechallenge.

How To Do The 100 Envelope Challenge

Get A Stack Of 100 Envelopes

Naturally, an important component of the 100 envelope challenge is the envelopes. Standard letter-sized envelopes like these are a great size for cash (and look great too!). 

Smaller envelopes will do in a pinch if you don’t mind crumpling or folding your bills. They also function flawlessly when using coins for a scaled-back version of the challenge. 

Number Each With A Dollar Amount From 1 To 100

All of your envelopes should now have a 1 to 100 numbering. As you’ll mix them up, sort of like a deck of cards, at the next step, it’s okay to just complete these in chronological order for the time being.

Put The Empty Envelopes In A Box

The simplest solution here is to simply put the empty envelopes in a box, though you can use any available container, like a basket. Anything resembling a shoe box will do. 

Having this in a visible location will help keep you inspired to complete the challenge each day. You might not want a plain shoe box on your counter because of this, so feel free to decorate it to give yourself an extra boost of inspiration. You could even get one that’s already decorated, like this beautiful storage box, if you feel like your creative skills aren’t up to par

Make sure to shuffle the envelopes before placing them in your box. To save money each day, choose a random amount each day as part of the 100 envelope challenge. Due to the fact that you’ll always be aware of the general amount you’re committing to saving on any given day, having them in order won’t work.

Each Day, Pick One Envelope At Random

Take an envelope out of the box every day without looking. The challenge’s appeal partly stems from the fact that you never know what you’ll be setting aside each day. 

However, no one will find out if you make a small concession to save more money on a day when you have extra or less money on a day when you are short on cash. However, it is not entirely in the spirit of the 100-day challenge, so make an effort to limit those days.

Put The Labeled Dollar Amount In The Envelope

Cash should be inserted with a value equal to what the envelope’s front displays. So if you pull out the envelope with 32 written on it, put $32 in cash in the envelope

Try not to think about the new game or show tickets you want to buy. Find some fun things to do with your friends that are free rather than going out for dinner this week. Pull out that recipe book for some frugal meal ideas instead of pulling up the delivery service app. Be strong.

Set The Filled Envelope Aside

Put the filled envelopes in a safe location as soon as possible. On the other hand, if you’re certain that the box containing your envelopes is secure, you might want to consider placing the filled envelopes at the back of the box, possibly upside down or with a divider between them and the empty envelopes so you can easily access the empty ones.

Instead of using cash, you might think about transferring the amount on each envelope each day to a savings account (my preferred high-interest savings account is below) as a much safer alternative. 

Track Your Progress

You are not required to do this, but if you want an extra boost of motivation, you might think about using a tracker for the 100 envelope challenge. With the aim of coloring in your tracker all the way to the $5,050 saved by the end, that entails either tracking that you’ve actually completed the challenge that day or tracking how much you save every day. 

An app is an alternative to this for keeping track of your progress in the 100 envelope challenge. Any habit tracker app will do the trick, with my personal favorite being HabitBull as it’s simple and, best of all, free!

Continue Each Day

Keep at it until your empty envelope box is empty because filling just one envelope won’t finish the 100 envelope savings challenge. And before you know it, you’ll have saved just over $5,000!