Quick question for you… How much closer will you be to fulfilling your dreams one year from now? Have you set a budget for making those dreams come true?
Time moves faster than anyone realizes. We’re nearly done with the 5th month of 2023 already! That went by fast. And the next year is going to go by just as fast. When May of 2024 rolls around, what will you have done to fund your dreams?
In the highly unlikely event that you don’t already have a plan to pay for the costs of making your dreams a reality, allow me to suggest cash stuffing. Back in my day, this was called the envelope-method. Like they say, everything old is new again. Today, people have brought this practice back to life.
Cash stuffing is the practice where people give every dollar a job before the money is spent. It’s a cash-based way of moving through the world. People allocate every physical dollar of their paycheques to various envelopes contained in wallets and use those dollars to pay for their expenses. Each wallet contains multiple plastic envelopes and each wallet has a theme. One wallet is day-to-day expenditures, such as groceries, gas, utilities. Another wallet might be for short-term goals – things like travel, weddings, extra-curricular fees. There’s probably a wallet for little indulgences like self-care and leisure. Other wallets are for charitable donations, retirement funds, pet-care, and various savings challenges. The number of envelopes and themes for the various wallets is only limited by the owners’ imagination.
I like to think of the wallets are representations of their owners’ personal priorities. After all, it’s the owner who determines how much physical money goes into each envelope whenever a paycheque comes their way. The wallets’ envelopes have money-targets. Let’s say the owner plans to save $4,000 for travel. Once the envelope reaches that target, the envelope is withdrawn from the wallet and the contribution formerly allocated to travel is re-directed to another envelope.
Do yourself a favour right this instant. Open another tab on this browser then go to YouTube and search for “cash-stuffing”. Many, many, many videos will pop up in your search results. Personally, I really enjoy Intentional Living and Canadian Girl Cash Stuffer. I’ve no doubt that you will find someone whose style of cash stuffing best matches your preferences. Personally, I find it soothing to watch strong, competent hands carefully stuffing numerous envelopes, then condensing those same bills later on for a significant, 4-figure bank deposit. The entire time, a voice is in the background explaining what the purpose of each allocation and when it will be used.
Did I mention that you can have envelopes for retirement? Should you decide to try this method of money management, never forget the needs of Future You. In short, one of your wallets should hold envelopes for your RRSP, your TFSA, and one for your non-registered savings.
It should also go without saying that you need an envelope for your emergency fund. There is an emergency in your future. You don’t know when it’s going to show up, but you can certainly take steps today to get financially ready for its arrival.
The other aspect of cash stuffing that I absolutely love is that it prevent people from going into debt. Those who are committed to only spending the available cash don’t use credit cards. Since they’re never borrowing money on their credit cards, they’re never going into debt. It’s a wonderful method for people to live below their means.
I spend a lot of time persuading you to turn your dreams into your reality. So I ask your again. One year from now, how much closer will you be to realizing your dreams?
We only get one life to live and I honestly believe it should be the best life it can possibly be. Most dreams come with a price tag. There’s some kind of financial component to all of them. You should pay just as much attention to the money-side of things as the other stuff that goes into making your dreams come true.