Cash stuffing is quickly becoming on of the hottest financial trends amongst millennials and gen Z thanks to series a viral TikTok videos that have made the old financial “hack” new again.
For those unaware, cash stuffing is the practice of physically budgeting money using cash. You simply put money in “envelopes earmarked for various spending categories — like rent, groceries, entertainment and gas. Once you use up all the money in a given envelope, you aren’t allowed to spend any more in that category until the following month.” (Like we said, this isn’t a new invention by any means). So, our question: What are the pros and cons to using the cash stuffing method to budget for a Disney vacation?
Pros
When it comes to using cash stuffing as a way to budget a Disney vacation, the pros are similar to those that come from using cash stuffing in general. It becomes an easy way to budget for each day of your trip.
Simply assign an amount of cash to an envelope for each day – – taking into account food, souvenirs, and any other potential expenses – – and only spend that amount for said day. That you eliminate any incidental or impulse spending beyond the budgeted number.
Sounds like a win-win solution right? Well…
Cons
Similar to the pros, some of the cons of cash stuffing a Disney vacation are the same as using it in general. For starters, there’s the issue of emergency funds. While this would probably seem like common sense to some, it’s still important to point out that even if you plan on only using a specific amount of case each day of your Disney vacation, it’s still important to have access to other funds just in case you find yourself in an unexpected or emergency situation.
Next, there’s the physical aspect of cash itself. If you choose to cash stuff, you’ll be carrying a large amount of cash with you while you travel to Disney, and have a day’s worth on you at all times, while the rest presumably stays in your hotel safe. In turn, that means if you lose your cash or in the unlikely event your pickpocketed or etc., that cash will be GONE with most likely no option to replace it from your bank.
In addition, there’s the loss of the convenience factor of being able to quickly pay electronically using a credit card, debit card, or even a MagicBand+ linked to your room. On top of that, services like mobile order or purchasing Lightning Lanes – – that have become integral to the Disney park experience – – will either be unavailable to your OR will require setting up a separate electronic payment method in addition to the cash you have on hand, which would seemingly hamper the point of using the cash stuffing method in the first place.
While cash stuffing is once again becoming a popular budgeting trend amongst some members of the millennial and gen z generations, there are definitely some things to keep in mind before planning to use the method on your next Disney vacation. Stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney vacation budgeting tips!
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How do you prefer to budget for Disney World? Let us know in the comments below.
I didn’t know it had a name but we used to do this back in the days when cash was king. Each evening, my husband would put the money on the hotel bed split into little piles for each day remaining. He would then get out of his wallet the cash that we hadn’t used that day and split that amongst the remaining days. We always had extra as we built a contingency into the amount of cash we brought and we tended only to spend on food for the first few days. We would look at souvenirs but not buy them until later in the holiday in case there was anything else we liked better.
We have used cash stuffing for years. Yes sometimes we go over and have to use a credit card but for the most part we do well with it. We do, however, take a good portion of the money and buy Disney gift cards so we are not carrying a large amount of cash. My husband and I split up the cards and only leave a small amount in the room safe. Works really well for us.