Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
Here’s my little Happy New Year gift to you. Each day in January, I’ll bring you a simple, concrete and easy to put in place tip to fuel your efforts to Save Money, Pay Off Debt, and Be Awesome this year. Looking for a quick plan? Well this might not to be the right place for you. Most things down well take time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t begin to implement systems in your life that will help you achieve your goals. I’ve said it many, many times before. Paying off debt isn’t complex. It’s just not easy. You have to punch the clock daily and do the hard work. Here’s another way to make that happen:
Day 4: CA$H Money, My Friends
Can I make a confession? I use my debit card way more than I should. It’s just so blame easy to pull it out to pay. From the gas pump to my numerous trips to ALDI, from Target to the mall and everywhere in between. I really like my debit card. It gives me the ease of a credit card without the interest rates or all of that spending money I don’t have nonsense.
But here’s the thing. I know, k-n-o-w, KNOW that I’m much more accountable to my budget when I use cash. When I use the debit card, I’m much more likely to place the items that sound good that we will use in my cart, whether they’re on my list or not. I don’t keep a good running total in my head and while I’m never grossly over budget, I don’t keep things reigned in as tightly as I know I should.
So what’s the big deal of going $5-15 over budget if you have the cash to cover it? Overspending with your debit card keeps you from other dreams and goals, Money Saving Lords and Ladies. Sure, you might be able to cover it. Sure, it’s not *that* big of a deal. Sure, we all go there now and then. However, if you multiply $10 a week overspent on groceries by 52 weeks, you get $520. I don’t know about you, but I have a few plans for what I would do with an extra $500.
I know it takes forethought. I know it feels like a hassle. But switching to a cash spending system will certainly help you kick debt in the teeth this year. A few thoughts if you’ve never been on cash system before.
Ease Into the Process
Choose to go cash only in the grocery store first. After you’ve successfully implemented the system into your day-to-day life, expand to cash only for dining out or your clothing budget. Then add an entertainment envelope into the mix. Soon, you’ll be able to rock several envelopes.
Use an Envelope System You Love
Seriously, I can’t emphasize how much this can make a difference. I know it seems incredibly girly and silly. But if you have envelopes you love, the process will be more fun and even inspirational. Here on Queen of Free, I have FREE (of course) printable cash envelopes for you to make. They’re cute and have unique quotes on the back of each, challenging you to spend well and save money. I also LOVE Thrifty Zippers. This tip makes a bigger difference than you might realize.
It’s Not the End of the World
Underestimate? Really need deodorant but don’t have enough to cover it? It’s OK to use your debit card now and then. But you would also do well to evaluate your cart to see what you could remove to cover the cost.
Choose a category of spending to go cash only in today. Print an envelope and take a cash challenge for thirty days. If it doesn’t save you money, go back to your debit card.
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I’m so looking forward to sharing this month of challenge and inspiration with you. Together, we can show debt who’s boss and give it a swift kick in the teeth this January and throughout the year in 2016. Away we go!
Miss the previous posts? Check out:
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: BELIEVE
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: STOP IT
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: SELL, BABY, SELL
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
Ack! I know I should use cash, but have never been successful. Oh, I suppose 2016 is the year to get it. Thanks for the baby-stepping advice – I will try it out on groceries, and I will commit to 3 months to get this figured out. Thanks, QOF!
Challenging, I know but I save more money every time because it makes me really consider my purchases. 🙂 You’ve got this.
This is my New Years resolution. I’ve been really good at Aldi the past year after reading your book on meal planning around sales, just nutrient dense foods and even putting back 5 things at the register. But this year… This the year of cold hard cash!
I just started my pay off debt journey in October 2015. I am a debit card junkie and tend to overspend, so I would most likely lose track of my budget if I didn’t use cash.
In order for me to use cash, I made a list of the categories that would go into an envelope (I have 9 categories). Next I broke down the amounts in each category by denominations. Finally, I go to the bank around the first of each month and withdraw the total amount of cash I need for the month based on the total denominations I figured out. (Refer to photos)
Since I tend to be very unorganized with individual envelopes, I purchased a wallet from Kohl’s that would allow me to place dividers in it for each category. Since I don’t have an iPhone, I could not use Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar app to record my deductions immediately from each category, so I just started using an app called ‘Good Budget’ for my android phone which allowed me to set up my 9 categories, and immediately input my transactions when I spend the cash. So far so good. 🙂
The brand of wallet I purchased from Kohl’s was the “Croft & Barrow Organizer Clutch Wallet”. It has a zippered section where you can place your dividers with a section in the center to place your coins for easy access.
{A good tip is to round-up when spending cash. For example, if your Walmart purchase for household items was $15.34, assume it was $16 if you don’t have the exact change to pay it, then throw the change given back to you into the coin section of your wallet. It makes recording of your transactions a lot easier.}
I made my dividers for the categories using 3 x 5 index cards, tabs, and laminating paper. (Refer to photo)
Wow. That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Love this and can’t agree more. I also agree that you need cute and fun envelopes to pull out at the grocery store. I started making and selling my own pretty envelope sets on Etsy. Take a minute to check out my shop if you have a chance.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftySundays
I just love them Rachel! Let me know if you ever what to do a give away. 🙂
I would love to do a giveaway. How can we set that up?
Reach out to me at http://www.queenoffree.net/contact/ and we’ll begin the process.