$5,050 in 100 Days: The Viral Saving Hack Everyone Is Trying

You can easily save $5,050 by taking the 100 Envelope Challenge, then turn it into even more by investing in dividend stocks!

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If you really need to save money quickly, there is a viral saving hack currently sweeping the internet. The hack is called the “100 Envelope Challenge.” I’ll go over the really simple hac, and what investors can do with that quick cash!

The challenge

Here is how the challenge works. First, get 100 envelopes. Then label those envelopes one through 100. You then shuffle up the envelopes well and place them in a box. From there the hack is incredibly simple. Each day, you will pull out an envelope. Whatever number is on the envelope, you put that amount in cash into the envelope.

So, if you choose 65, you put in $65. You choose five, you put in $5. You get it. And, of course, you could also choose to simply transfer that amount into your savings account, Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), or anything else.

By the end of the challenge, you will have a grand total of $5,050 in your possession! It’s that simple! And you don’t have to stop at 100 days. If you up it to 200 days and follow the same pattern, you would get to a total of $10,100!

Some issues

Now, of course, there are certainly issues. If you’re paying $65 one day, $98 the next, and $50 after that, it adds up quickly and can be a strain on your account. So, definitely make sure you have your bills and other necessities paid off. The goal is to make you wealthier by cutting out unnecessary things, not the exact opposite.

Then this challenge breaks down to be over just about three months. So, if you want to do this, maybe choose a time when you have a few months ahead where you know you won’t need to spend as much — say, if you just made some debt payments, no property taxes due, or paid off your tax return.

Put that $5,050 to good use!

Let’s say you took my recommendation of putting that cash directly into a TFSA, for example, and not simply held in cash. You now have almost the contribution limit for this year! Double check that you have the room before making any transfers, of course. This can be done by calling the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or simply logging into your CRA MyAccount.

Then if you’re needing cash, the best choice is to choose dividend stocks. These stocks provide cash each quarter and sometimes every month! But if you want to see even more growth, then choose stocks that are about to see major growth in the next decade and beyond.

For that I would recommend WPT Industrial REIT (TSX:WIR.UN). The stock owns light industrial properties across the United States, providing storing and shipping for e-commerce companies. The e-commerce industry may have boomed in 2020, but it’s not over. There should be significant growth in the next decade, and you can get in on it!

Shares in the stock are up 45% in the last year, and it offers a dividend yield of 4.71% as of writing. So, that would mean if you invested that $5,050 into WPT Industrial, you would end up with annual dividends of about $228.50! You’ve now made $5,278.50 without including returns!

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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