How to Do The 100 Envelope Challenge and Save $5,050 In Less Than A Year

If you struggle to save money, the latest viral savings trend may just be the answer to changing your financial situation…

It is dubbed the 100 envelope challenge (or the 100 envelope money savings challenge) and the point of this envelope savings challenge is to help you save money in a fun way. Completing the challenge will help you save over $5,000 in less than a year.

What is the 100 Envelope Challenge?

The 100 Envelope Challenge is a fun way to save money. You start with 100 envelopes and write numbers from 1 to 100 on them. Every day, pick one envelope at random. If the envelope says ‘5’, put $5 in it. Keep doing this each day. When you’ve filled all the envelopes, you’ll have $5,050 saved up!

How to Do The 100 Envelope Challenge

Step #1: Gather your supplies. You will need 100 envelopes, a black Sharpie or pen, stickers to seal the envelopes (optional), a box or container to store the envelopes (optional) and cash.

If you don’t keep cash around, you can make a withdrawal at the bank or ATM or withdrawal money each paycheck to set aside for the money challenge. I also created a 100 Day Envelope Challenge Printable that you can color daily as you fill each envelope with cash to help you keep track of your progress!

Step #2: Prepare your envelopes. Take your pen or marker and write a number on the front of each envelope. Start with ‘1’ and keep going until you reach ‘100’. You can choose to keep these in numerical order or shuffle them so you are randomly choosing a number each day.

Step #3: Choose an envelope to fill each day. Every day, pick one envelope. Then, put in money that’s the same as the number on the envelope. For example, if one day you draw the number 67 you would deposit $67 into that envelope and seal it. If you draw the number 3, you’d deposit $3 into that envelope and seal it and continue this for 100 days.

Step #4: Assess your accomplishment. Congratulations! You’ve completed this fun challenge. At the end of 100 days, you will have 100 envelopes filled with cash totaling $5,050.

Step #5: Decide what to do with your money. Once you’ve completed the challenge the hardest part is deciding what to do with the money. You can put the money into your checking account, a high-yield savings account or a separate savings account that will keep you from spending it until you need it. You can even use this money to start sinking funds to create savings accounts for reoccurring expenses.

Is the 100 envelope challenge doable?

As someone who has personally completed the 100 envelope challenge (twice), I can tell you that this method of saving money does work and it is doable. However, it truly does require patience, time, dedication and of course, money.

If saving this much money in such a short amount of time is not feasible for you, you can adjust the time frame and customize the 100-envelope challenge to fit your unique financial situation.

The reality is, most people don’t have extra cash lying around to complete a filled envelope every day. Some even take on side hustles and cut unnecessary expenses to be able to afford to complete the challenge.

In the end, this trend is perfect for saving on a down payment for a house, paying off credit card debt, paying off student loans, saving for a big purchase such as a vacation, establishing an emergency fund, starting a savings habit, etc. The possibilities are endless!

What is a digital version of the 100 envelope challenge?

You can do the 100 envelope challenge digitally by depositing money into a bank account either manually or by direct deposit. Since you won’t be using physical envelopes and there isn’t a way to use digital envelopes, you can use an online random number generator to help you pull a number for that day or week. You can also use my 100 Day Envelope Challenge Printable to help you keep track of the amounts.

Don’t let the large amount of cash to complete this 100-day envelope challenge scare you away from reaching your financial goals. If this method of saving doesn’t work for you, there are many other money-saving hacks you can choose from.

The point with any money savings challenge is to make saving money fun and easy so make sure you give one a try!

Other Money Savings Challenges

• 50 envelope money savings challenge – You can save $1,275 over 50 days.
• 200 envelope money savings challenge – You can save $5,050 over 200 days.
• 52 Week Money Savings Challenge – You can save 1,378 in 1 year.
• 52 week $5 challenge – You save $5 each week (increasing it by $5 weekly) and save ovfer $7,000 in a year