It completely changed my life. It changed my whole outlook on everything. I used to swipe my card and be like, ‘I hope it doesn’t get declined!’ Or I’d put my card in at a restaurant and be like, ‘I’ll deal with that later,’ and that feels terrible. My goal is not not feel that way anymore.

Jamie Feldman

Introducing the new personal finance revolution: cash! Reporting for NPR, finance correspondent Stacey Vanek Smith has explored how younger generations are using physical money to take control of their debts and even start saving for the future.

Smith notes a rising number of Gen Z and Millennials are shunning digital options in favour of hard cash, with its tangible nature allowing them to spend more consciously—the ‘pain of payment’ that comes from handing over notes and coins is well-known—and helping them allot budget to essentials while having a visible record of what can then be spent on non-essentials.

Jamie Feldman—a 33-year-old writer and journalist in New York—is an avid TikToker who made videos about culture, cooking and humour until worry about her mounting debts took over. In a mid-2022 video, she unhappily admitted: ‘I have a lot of debt. I’m starting with about $18,000 in cred card debt… which is so much.’

Smith reports there was no one cause for the huge debt, but rather a steady stream of expenses from life in New York combined with low income. Feldman posted on TikTok with the intention of ‘holding herself accountable’, asking followers to ‘come with her on this journey’ as she tried to make her way out of debt. In seeking solutions, she came across a major trend, with people claiming to have become debt free and able to begin building savings. Of course, the key to it is using cash.

Using cash to budget is hardly new, but it has gained new significance in a challenging financial environment and with digital payment options enabling ‘invisible spending’. Cash stuffing is a particularly favoured technique, in which banknotes and coins are placed into envelopes to cover a person’s various expenses, and only when all the essentials are covered can money be allotted to extras. When an envelope is empty, no more can be spent in that category for the week or month.

Feldman found this allotting of budget and use of cash essential to getting her finances back on track. In videos charting her progress, she goes shopping and thinks carefully about the groceries she’s buying, and what will offer her the best value for the coming week. While she is not yet free of debt, she has already reduced what she owes for her credit card by over $3,000.