"A 31-year-old entrepreneur launched a 'cash stuffing' venture with her $1,200 stimulus check, expected to earn $1 million this year"

Jasmine Taylor realized in January 2021 that she needed to change her approach to managing money.

 Having lost her full-time job, she was surviving on side hustles such as delivering prescriptions and food for DoorDash. With $60,000 in student debt and $9,000 in medical and credit card debt, she turned to YouTube and discovered "cash stuffing", a money management strategy that involved spending only the cash she had. 

Taylor shared her journey on TikTok and her videos went viral. In the first year, she paid off $23,000 in student loan debt and cleared her medical and credit card balances. 

She then turned her newfound expertise into a business, Baddies and Budgets, which offers money courses, budgeting supplies and accessories. The business made $850,000 in 2022 and is expected to surpass $1 million this year.

Traditional Budgeting: "My Grandmother Used to Practice It!"

Taylor adopted a zero-based budget when she started cash stuffing, which is the most popular method among cash stuffers, she explains. This involves starting the budget with the amount of one's paycheck and assigning every dollar a purpose until it reaches zero.

After planning for the month, she divides her money into physical cash. "I allocate money for bills in envelopes. I allocate money for variable expenses, such as weekly spending," she says. "Then, I allocate money for 'sinking funds,' which are short-term or long-term savings accounts." These may include an emergency fund, funds for car maintenance, or money reserved for the holidays.

The remaining cash is used to pay off debts or establish long-term savings. Taylor and her followers "stuff" the appropriate amount of cash into individual envelopes, labeled binders, or cash wallets.

If you think this money management technique is familiar, it's because it is. The "envelope method" of budgeting has been in use for decades and was a prevalent way of managing household finances before the advent of debit cards and online payments.

Taylor has received messages from older women who stumbled upon her content and remarked that their grandmothers used to use the same method.

It didn't take long for Taylor to improve her financial habits. After tracking her expenses for a few months, she had saved $1,000, which was a significant amount for her. She recalls the surreal feeling of seeing the money sitting in her envelope, realizing she hadn't needed to use it. "As someone who has mismanaged money her entire life, it's a really surreal feeling when you finally get to the point where you think, 'OK, I can do this."

Transforming a TikTok account into a sustainable enterprise

After Taylor’s initial videos went viral, she saw an opportunity to leverage her large audience. She noticed two things: first, that her engaging content on money management was popular; second, that there was a market for products that made cash stuffing more appealing than plain envelopes.

Taylor realized that she couldn't find many shops selling the items necessary for cash stuffing. So, she used her $1,200 stimulus check in spring of 2021 to create Baddies and Budgets. With that money, she purchased a Shopify account, shipping supplies, material for cash-stuffing wallets, and a Cricut machine to print labels for envelopes and wallet covers.

Having learned from her past experiences of failed entrepreneurial ventures, Taylor kept her expectations modest, saying, “I just went into it hoping I would make my money back.”

Taylor's business, Baddies and Budgets, earned almost $250,000 from April through year-end 2021. The success of her line of cash-stuffing products has been remarkable, as fans have begun to identify with her brand and buy more than just the essentials. Taylor says, "A lot of people that buy from us are budgeters and people who save, but there are also people who buy from us because our stuff is really cute. They’re the ones who wanted cups and keychains.”

Despite the business being on track to earn over $1 million this year, Taylor is conservative with her own salary, paying herself just $1,200 a week. She reinvests heavily in the business and sorts out her finances in cash each week, setting aside some for her expenses and some toward retirement accounts and other savings challenges. Taylor adds, "The same stuff I teach my audience, I still use in my everyday life.”

DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life?