Savvy mum shares envelope hack for saving £5,050 in less than half a year

FIND saving a struggle? A savvy mum has revealed her envelope hack that helped her save £5,050 in just half a year. 

She took part in the viral 2020 Envelope Challenge, which requires you to first get your hands on a set of 100 envelopes. 

You need to label up the envelopes from £1 to £100, and the aim is to fill them in 25 weeks, which equates to half a year. 

The mum shared how you draw four envelopes at random a week, and whatever figure you draw, you have to deposit that amount of cash inside. 

So if you drew the £2, £19, £35, and £50 ones, you’d have to add each amount inside that week. 

Of course, you will have to be able and willing to put in a sum that could be anywhere from £10 to £394 - which could be a bit of a stretch if you were unlucky enough to pull higher envelopes all in one week. 

However, if you tend to splash cash instead of saving it, this could be just the trick you need to put some serious money aside. 

And it could be a game-changer for those looking to save to buy a house or a car, as by the 25th week, you will have £5,050 ready in the envelopes for you to collect. 

If four envelopes is a bit of a financial stretch, another option is to pull just two envelopes from the batch each week, and spread the challenge over the next year to reach the same amount. 

The mum who shared the trick to 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."

Her tip has been liked 11,000 times and received 31,000 comments - many of which were from people keen to try it out. 

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

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

Others pointed out that the weekly deposits are quite steep, with one writing: "Okay but you gotta have that extra money first."

Meanwhile, we shared how to save £5,200 and pay for next year’s holiday with the 52-week money saving challenge.

Alternatively, save £1,500 in 12 months with the 365 day challenge.