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In January 2021, Jasmine Taylor knew she had to change the way she thought about money.
The now 31-year-old from Amarillo, Texas, passed away last month while holiday shopping. "I remember thinking about how I'm going to spend the next month," he told CNBC's Make It.
Taylor recently lost her full-time job delivering pharmacy and grocery orders for DoorDash. He had $60,000 in student debt and another $9,000 in credit card and medical debt.
So, like everyone who finally wants to figure something out, he took to YouTube, where he discovered the money management strategy that changed his life: 'Money Crushing'. “I found the cash budget and stuck to it,” says Taylor. "I only spent what I had in cash."
Taylor decided to take responsibility by posting on Tik Tok, where "mostly kids dance" at the time.
It soon spread that he was managing his finances by stuffing the money into envelopes.
In her first year with the money, Taylor was able to pay off $23,000 in student loan debt and eliminate her medical debt and credit card balances. After building a large following (he currently has 628,000 followers on TikTok), he turned the money into a business called Buddies and Budgets, which sells money courses, budgeting supplies and more.
In the year By 2022, this work has raised about $850,000. It is on track to clear $1 million this year.
Old school budgeting. "Grandma used to do that."
Taylor was working on a zero budget when she started cashing in, which she says is the most common choice among fundraisers. "That means you start your budget with whatever salary you have and put every dollar somewhere until you get to zero."
When you plan for a month, you divide your money into physical money. "I put money in the mail for bills, I put money in for variable expenses, which are weekly expenses." "They then allocate money to 'sinking funds,' which are small short-term or long-term savings accounts." This could include an emergency fund, money for car repairs or a vacation.
What's left goes forward, either to pay off debt or build long-term savings. Taylor and his followers "change" the appropriate amount of money into individual envelopes or marked packages or wallets.
© Courtesy of CNBC Jasmine Taylor uses cash to customize her income.
If this sounds familiar, it is because it is. The "envelope method" of budgeting has been around for decades and was a popular way to manage household finances before debit cards and online payments.
"I went back to the old ladies. They found my stuff and said, 'Grandma used to do this,'" Taylor said.
It didn't take long for Taylor to change his financial habits. After a few months of diligently tracking where all her money was going, she saved $1,000. It was the first time in his life that he made a lot of money.
"I looked at the envelope and it was there for a while and I was like, 'Oh my God, I don't need this.'"
Turn your TikTok presence into a full-time business
After Taylor's early videos went viral, he wanted to capitalize on the large audience he had built. As he watched the market, he noticed two things. First, in the area of money content, which Taylor says is often boring, she finds something people really want to do.
Second, he realized there was a market for people like him. "I looked around and didn't find many stores that sold the things you need to get paid," he says.
In the year In the spring of 2021, Taylor used her $1,200 incentive check to create Buds and Budgets, print a Shopify label, shipping materials, grocery bags, and Cricket Machine envelopes and wallets.
Taylor, who has tried and failed at various entrepreneurial ventures in the past, says the lessons learned have kept his expectations somewhat low. "I went in hoping to get my money's worth," he says.
© By CNBC Budget and Baddies grossed nearly $850,000 in 2022.
He did and then some. From April to the end of 2021, the business was about $250,000.
Then there was rapid growth. As more fans began to recognize his brand, his product line expanded beyond necessity.
"Most people who buy from us are thrifty and thrifty, but there are also people who buy from us because our stuff is so good," he says. They are the ones who want cups and keys.
Although the business is on track to make more than $1 million in revenue this year, Taylor only pays herself $1,200 a week and invests heavily in the business. He still allocates his finances each week in cash, allocating some for his own expenses and some for retirement accounts and other savings challenges.
"The same things I teach my audience, I still use in my daily life," he says.
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