I Tried Cash Stuffing To Save Money & Here’s What Happened

via Markus Spiske / pexels

Are you someone constantly tapping your card everywhere you go, then wondering where your money is going? Most of us have gotten a little extravagant in recent years (I’m blaming the introduction of debit and credit cards being linked to your phone!) when it comes to tap, tap, tapping our cards away without any consciousness as to what we’re actually spending. Enter cash stuffing, the budgeting solution to many of our problems.

Cash stuffing is basically setting yourself a limit, and using cash instead cards.  So what benefit is cash stuffing to all of us over-spenders? Well, you quite literally take the cash out of your account the day your paycheck comes through. You can’t take money from another category unintentionally meaning it’s much easier to control mindless spending when using your card.

If you think back to your childhood, I can guarantee you that when an aunt handed you €20, you spent time mulling over what best to buy, if you’d have enough, and whether you’d have some left over for sweets. If only our adult minds worked in the same way. It seems the invention of tapping takes out the whole mental maths of seeing what’s left over, making us more susceptible to spending liberally and extravagantly.

To demonstrate the art of cash stuffing I decided I would set myself a challenge and give myself €200 for a week. I normally wouldn’t spend over a hundred but I knew ahead of schedule that I had an appointment on Day 2 and so added a little extra to cover it. I kept a little diary of my spending throughout the day. Of course, with the cost of living crisis in mind, it’s worth noting that if this is even an option for you, you’re in a pretty privileged position. Also, factors like living at home and having groceries already stocked up made a huge difference to the challenge. 

Day 1  

Starting my week off strong, I woke up at 6.45am, as I was heading into the office for 9.30am. I got myself ready and I decided to walk to the train station instead of getting the bus to the station. I got on the train into Tara St (€2.45), and as I had plenty of time, I walked to the office from there, instead of jumping on the bus. When it came to lunch, I realised I had forgotten to grab my lunch from the fridge, meaning a trip to the shop was on the cards. This set me back an unexpected €10. At the end of the day, I walked to the train and got it back to Malahide (€2.45) and walked home before eating what was meant to be my lunch for dinner.  

Total: €14.90  

Day 2

Working from home meant I had two slices of brown bread and some scrambled eggs for breakfast. I worked until 12.45pm when I had to head down the village for an appointment (€80), at 1pm. I got a taxi (€10), so I could leave the house a little later than if I was walking. After my appointment, I went to a local cafe for some lunch (€18) and for a change of scenery while I worked. I stayed there until closing at 5pm and got the bus home (€1.75) because it was lashing outside. That evening I cooked dinner for my dad and I.  

Total: €109.75  

via Karolina Grabowska / Pexels

Day 3

I woke up way too late to even get the bus, let alone walk. I ended up getting a taxi to the train station (€10), and making the train (€2.45) on time. It was raining when I got to Tara St, so I got the bus up to the office (€1.70). I had no leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, so I went to Lidl to pick up some lunch (€5). I got the train home (€2.45) after work and cooked dinner. I made enough that I’d be able to bring leftovers in for my lunch the next day.  

Total: €21.60  

Day 4 

I was in the office again today and was ready early enough to walk to the train. As usual I took the train (€2.45) into Tara St and walked to the office. I stopped in Tesco on the way to get a bottle of water and some fruit (€5.75), as I was unusually hungry for the morning time. At lunchtime I pulled out my leftovers and ate them before returning to work. After work I met a friend I haven’t seen in two years for dinner and a couple of drinks (€40). I unfortunately missed the last train home so I had to get a taxi back to Malahide (€43), which was painful to say the least. It was at this point I took a look in my wallet for the week and realised I would need to take a trip to the ATM in the morning as I had overspent by nearly €38, I truly didn’t think I spent overly extravagantly throughout the week particularly since my rent and food is generally covered, turns out I was very wrong. 

Total: €91.20  

Day 5

Today I was working from home, which thankfully meant little to no expenses after a week of fairly unexpected costs. Finishing up my working day at 3.30pm, I took some old clothes and pyjamas in a taxi (€6.20) to the consignment shop where I traded 1kg of clothes for €5. I walked back from the shop and met my dad on his way home from work, and I treated us to a takeaway (€20).  

Total: €21.20  

Week Total: €258.65  

Unfortunately, it seems my inability to grasp the concept of time had some impacts on my spending this particular week. I overspent by Day 3 which was unexpected but showed me that I’m spending more than I realised, in ways that are easily fixed. It made me consider just how much I tap and has definitely made me more aware of my overall spending habits.  

The article originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of STELLAR magazine. 

• cash stuffing
• Finance
• Saving