How to Do the 100 Envelope Challenge to Save $5,050

If you want to know how to do the 100 day envelope challenge to save as much as $5,050, this article will really help you achieve this.

It reveals what this challenge is, how it works and as many as 10 tips to help you do and succeed with this challenge.

 

Why the 100 Day Envelope Money Saving Challenge?

Nothing gets the competitive juices going than for someone to say, “I double dare you!”

Examples of these I doubled dare you challenges on the Internet have included the Gangnam Style Challenge, the Harlem Shake Challenge, the Ice Bucket Challenge, and the Mannequin Challenge to name a few.

Now, a savings challenge emerges.

That challenge is known as the 100 Envelope Challenge.

The 100 envelope challenge can be an important personal finance challenge in that it is an opportunity for an individual to save money.

The importance of accepting this challenge is that at the end of the timeframe, a significant amount of money will have been saved.

Additionally, the pleasure of completing this challenge will be realized with the money that is saved and the individual having fun in the process.

 

What is the 100 Envelope Challenge?

The idea behind the 100 envelope challenge is to save money.

The challenge begins with the participant having 100 envelopes. These envelopes are numbered on the outside in consecutive order and ranging from 1 to 100.

Once this has been completed, then all of the envelopes are placed in a container of some sort.

To add to the excitement, the container can be nicely decorated, with a money theme or some other decorative appropriate decoration.

The envelopes are shaken up to disrupt the sequencing of the numbered envelopes.

At a certain time in the day, the individual goes over to their special box and selects one envelope.

If the envelope is numbered 32, then $32 is placed into that envelope and sealed.

The next day the same process plays out with a different envelope being selected if the next envelope that is selected is labeled as 100, and then $100 is placed in the envelope and sealed.

Where one safely puts these envelopes is strictly up to the individual.

Consequently, at the end of the successful challenge, 100 envelopes will have been selected each containing the corresponding amount of cash to the number on the outside of the envelope.

Therefore, at the end of the challenge or 100 days later the individual will have accumulated $5,050.

Not bad for an investment of 100 envelopes, the time to number them and to shake them up in a box.

Also See: Why Money Values Are Important, Why Financial Literacy is Important and Why Budgeting Is Important.

 

10 Tips to Help You Do the 100 Envelope Challenge to Save $5,050

 

1. Get the 100 Envelopes Needed

The first tip is to gather together the 100 envelopes that are needed.

These envelopes may be around the household, or the individual can simply go to a discount store and purchase a sufficient number of boxed envelopes to attain the 100 total envelopes needed.

To make this more fun and exciting, the envelopes can be colored or can be written on to show one’s artistic talent in regards to accepting this challenge and working towards this success.

 

2. Use the Cutting Up Pieces of Paper Technique

If an individual doesn’t want to go to the expense of purchasing these envelopes simply cut up pieces of paper and number them 1 through 100.

These pieces of paper are placed in a basket or container of sort and the same process plays out in that one piece of paper is selected each day.

If the number 50 is selected, for example, the best way to make that $50 payment towards your challenge is to simply transfer $50 from your checking account into a separate savings account that has been set up.

Your $50 closer to your goal of $5,050.

Also See: How To Stop Buying Stuff and How to Turn $1,000 Into $10,000.

 

3. Variations of the Plan

If to an individual this 100 envelope savings plan is too much and too soon, variations of the plan can be accomplished.

Such a variation would be to change the number of envelopes selected daily to a more appropriate number reflecting one’s financial situation.

Therefore, rather than picking an envelope daily, the individual could pick an envelope every other day, every 3rd day, or weekly.

It still keeps the integrity of the 100 envelope challenge but it just achieves the goal of attaining $5,050 a little bit longer than just the 100 days.

 

4. Do the Best You Can

Because this 100 envelope effort is labeled as a challenge, it is challenging or not necessarily an easy thing to do.

Therefore, even if the individual only did 30 envelopes or a certain percentage of the 100 envelopes needed, they would be that much further ahead in achieving a start towards their savings.

The point is not to be discouraged, but to accept the challenge and do the best that one can do.

 

5. Use a Canister/Piggy Bank

To aid in this challenge, there are a variety of products designed around this 100 envelope challenge.

A product that is available to the individual taking up the challenge is a canister/piggy bank that allows for the individual to deposit their daily money.

Also, available on certain online sites are actual envelopes that can be purchased and are designed specifically to hold money.

Below are some helpful guide to saving money:

• Tips for Saving Money & Living Better
• Best Reasons for Saving Money
• Tips for Saving Money from Wages
• The 30 Day Rule to Saving Money

 

6. Compete With Someone Else

Another tip to incorporate in the successful completion of the 100 envelope challenge is to compete with another individual.

The challenge could be between two or more individuals.

At certain times during the competition, the individuals could compare their success towards achieving their goal.

Those timeframes could be monthly or weekly and the individuals would just need to report to each other on whether they were able to put the amounts required in the envelope or into a savings account.

To make it even more interesting, a reward of sorts could be awarded to the individual who was the most successful at each of these intervals.

As an example, if one individual, for a week, had done his or her financial contribution for all 7 days whereas the other competitor only did it for 6 days; they would be declared the winner of that week.

To the winner goes the spoils and the spoils could be a dinner prepared by the loser for the winner, the losing individual washing the other individual’s car, or another sort of fun competitive activity.

 

7. Use Baseball Card Sleeves

Rather than using envelopes, there are other compartmentalized or individual slots in which the money can be put.

One such product that can be used to place the money in could be baseball card sleeves.

Generally, there are 9 slots per page. Therefore, the individual would need to, if taking the 100-day challenge, buy 11 of those pages.

The process would be the same and slips of paper would be put into the sleeves and then drawn out on each day.

If the number 4 is drawn out of one of the slots, then $4 is placed into that particular sleeve, usually transparent, and therefore that adds to the excitement of the challenge to see that money staring back at the individual.

 

 

8. Journal

One other additional tool that can be utilized by the individual taking up this challenge is to go on a savings journey by journaling their daily financial savings trip.

A lined or blank page journaling book could be purchased to chronicle this challenge. Additionally, to make it fun, green ink, the color of money, could be used to write the entries.

Also, online, are kits containing a journal and pen that can be purchased to facilitate this process.

 

9. Request Money in Different Denominations

If cash is going to be used for the challenge and to make sure that the currency is available, an individual, when doing their banking, could go to the teller and request money out of their account in different denominations to cover the daily needs.

Variations of the 100 envelope challenge can be implemented as well

Examples of those types of variations could be to draw one envelope every 2 weeks, draw one envelope every month, or even add envelopes and, if financially able, do the 200 envelope challenge.

Additionally, envelopes can be taken away and the number 100 can be reduced in half. That would reduce the savings of the individual to $1275 by taking a 50 envelope challenge.

Check out the following for more tips on saving money:

• Best Ways to Save $10,000 in 6 Months
• Best Ways to Save $20,000 in a Year
• Best Ways to Save $5000 in 6 Months
• Best Ways to Save $10,000 in a Year
• Best Ways to Save $3,000 in 3 Months
• Best Ways to Save $5,000 in a Year

 

10. Pick the Envelope

Also, rather than selecting the envelope randomly, the individual could pick the envelope that they want to fill.

This is an option if the individual was having an unexpected expense or happen to be short moneywise for that particular day.

 

Personal Story

I’m sure we all have a story of a challenge that was accepted in our life.

It may have been a rewarding challenge with a positive outcome or one in which the individual may say to themselves “What on earth was I thinking?”

My challenge presented to me was concerning weight loss.

Being overweight, I was challenged by an individual to shed excess weight that I had put on.

My challenge was to lose weight. The particulars were to lose 40 pounds in 30 days.

My beginning weight was 240 pounds, and I was to weigh 190 pounds after 30 days.

I accepted the challenge because the incentive was a case of beer. Oh, to be young again!

Weighing in at 240 pounds, the challenge began, and through a combination of diet, starvation, and exercise, I achieved my goal of getting down to 190 pounds.

In retrospect a challenge that was both stupidly taken and yet rewarding in that I shed unhealthy weight that I was carrying. The case of beer was merely a bonus.

 

100 Day Envelope Money Saving Challenge FAQs

 

How Can I Save 10,000 Using the Envelope System?

As the total amount that will be saved using the 100 envelope system is $5,050. The goal achieved will be reached in 100 days.

The $5,050 amount over 90 days equals an average of $56 a day.

Therefore, if you were to divide 10,000 by 56 that would take 176 days to achieve the $10,000 goal using the progression of 1 to 176 in each of the 176 envelopes.

If you only wanted to use 100 envelopes, then the numbering sequence would need to be twice as much as what it would take to save $5,000.

In other words, rather than $1 being placed in an envelope it would be $2, rather than $10 being in one envelope it would be $20, or rather than $100 being in one envelope it would be $200.

 

Should I Leave the Money in the Envelopes, or Should I Put It in an Investment Account?

Very good question! Although it would be fun to see your money grow day-to-day, and you could be like King Midas and go to your money counting room daily.

However, it may be more beneficial to invest the money into a high yield money market account or savings account.

Of course, it’s completely up to the individual whether they want to have the fun of seeing the money accumulated and handling it or whether they want to invest the money and add to its growth.

 

You Can Do It

Let’s face it, sometimes we need a little fun or added excitement to help us along in meeting our savings goals.

The 100-envelope challenge may be just what the individual needs to instill some enthusiasm in reaching their financial savings goals.

The start-up cost is minimal, and the rewards are phenomenal.

Those rewards being that in a short 3-month period, the individual will have saved $5,000 that they can set apart as part of their continued investment strategy or utilize the money in any way that they want.

 

Conclusion

Everyone, it seems, enjoys a challenge and, for the most part, everybody enjoys the look and feel of money.

What a perfect way to combine both appreciations to ultimately achieve a goal of saving over $5,000.

Remember, however, this can be a daunting challenge, hence the term 100 envelope challenge.

At times it won’t be easy especially when the individual draws a higher numbered envelope.
However, endeavor to do your best and fulfill the terms of the challenge.

As the saying goes even if you shoot for the moon and miss you still fall amongst the stars.

So, it will be with this challenge even if you fail to reach the goal, you will still be better off for it because of the money that you can save.