Gen Z are reverting to the age-old practice of 'cash stuffing' to help stick to a budget

Folks from the older generation might think that Gen Z is pretty careless when it comes to spending money but turns out this might not be true. As goods and services get more and more expensive with the spiking rate of inflation, the newest generation has started being a lot more mindful about their money and how they splurge it. In a latent trend taking over TikTok, Gen Z is demonstrating how to save more cash in an old-school fashion.

Assembling under the #cashstuffing hashtag on TikTok, the newest generation is sharing their effective budgeting hacks and showing their audiences how they end up saving a lot of money even after paying for necessities and bills. For the people who are wondering about this art of "cash stuffing," it is not a new method of saving a sum from your monthly income. Basically, people divide their income for the month and sort them out into cash envelopes with different categories marked on them and spend only what is marked on each envelope. Leftover cash becomes a part of a person's savings. 

According to Fox 5, financial advisor Bryan Kuderna, who is also the author of "What Should I Do With My Money," appreciated Gen Z's saving practices. "I think it's good that Gen Z is starting to think about budgeting and taking some financial responsibility. I also think in reality, it's a symptom of the fact that Gen Z, remember right now is about 10 years old to 24 years old," he said. "So, it's a very small segment that's actually even eligible for a credit card. You've got to be 18 to get a credit card and since the Credit Card Act of 2009, it's very difficult under the age of 21 to get a credit card. So, I think of 18 to 21 years old/college age are thinking about their money, how to be smart about it."

"The cash stuffing idea, I know you see it on TikTok and stuff, I think it's almost a good practice or a good exercise and then hopefully in a few years when that 22-year-old is 25, now they say, 'OK, I'll take that same strategy, but I can get myself a month's time with my credit card. I can build my credit history, get a couple of points along the way,' and then they can make it kind of a win-win," Kuderna added.

A May 2023 report of Credit Karma showed that a whopping 69% of Gen Z is using cash more now than they did last year. In the age of digital transactions, a lot of Gen Z shoppers prefer to use digital payment methods where one can simply tap their phone to pay, but others believe that feature makes it too easy to spend money, reports Fox Business. Eli Amaris, a young man from downtown Minneapolis told the outlet that "everything he’s learned about money has been self-taught."

"I have a bank account, but I try not to touch it, and when I spend, I like to use cash," Amaris said, adding that budgeting was hard when he didn’t have cash because the money showing on his digital bank account didn’t feel real. "I’m more able to stop myself when I see, visually see and feel, how much I have left."