Mum shares simple envelope hack for saving £5,050 in six months

A woman has gone viral for sharing a brilliant money-saving hack that might help ease the budget during the difficult winter months.

With the cost-of-living situation hitting the nation hard, it's always worth looking at ways to save a few quid - whenever possible.

The 'envelope challenge' was originally shared on the internet back in 2020 and is still pretty relevant today as, earlier this year, one woman was able to save more than £5,000 in under six months.

The way it works - you’ll need to grab around 100 envelopes and then write an amount between £1 and £100 on the front.

If it wasn't obvious, this works for any currency.

Pexels

Then over the next 25 weeks, which is less than half a year, you pull out two envelopes at random twice per week (or four per week) and deposit cash to the value on the front inside.

At first glance it might sound a bit confusing but if you happen to pull out the 24 envelope - for example - you’ll need to put £24 inside.

If you grab the 6 envelope, you put in £6, and so on.

It goes without saying, you'll need enough of a disposable income for it work.

If you're the kind of person who has the means, and is maybe guilty of splashing the cash, this could be the trick for you to save some dough.

By the time you reach week 25, there could be £5,050 sitting in those envelopes ready for you to collect.

Notably, you don't have to do this over 25 weeks, unless you need to save a load of money really quickly.

Facebook

Equally, you could do it in 25 days by choosing four envelopes per day if you're feeling really flush.

The mum who shared the trick on Facebook said: "If you have a three-year plan to buy a house, you could have a little over $30,000 for a down payment by doing this."

One person commented: "We should do this! It would help me save."

Another added: "I love this idea. It would be a fun way for us to save up for something special."

A third person pointed out that you’d need a decent chunk of cash each week, writing: "Okay but you gotta have that extra money first."