Hiya Lords and Ladies . . . we’re 12 days into a journey of reducing your debt. I’m sharing my best money saving and debt slaying strategies to make 2011 a better year for you and your finances. Keep coming back to find more tips and ideas.
Day 12: Find a Good Envelope
First let me answer the question of why we hadn’t embraced the envelope system prior to this year. 1) I love me some debit card reward points. And I use ’em to do my Christmas shopping. Buuuuttt we were continually spending ~$10-$15 more than I had budgeted on groceries. And the reward points I was collecting were probably outweighed by the over extension of our budget. 2) I continually forgot to get cash before I went shopping. 3) I kind of found the Dave Ramsey envelope system a bit overwhelming. 4) I thought that using a cash only envelope system would feel too restrictive.
But in the same way a budget ended up feeling more freeing than restrictive, I’m finding that I really like using envelopes for spending, too. Right now, we’re only using it for grocery shopping. We don’t really eat out/have an entertainment budget because we keep life rather simple. We only go out if we have gift cards and find free entertainment. The same goes with a clothing budget. We don’t have a problem with overspending in those areas. We also don’t ever overspend on our gasoline budget (hopefully this won’t change even though gas prices keep climbing) and it’s hard to tote little people inside to pay cash, especially during the winter months. But grocery shopping because I love to cook and we love good food is the one area where I had been continually overspending. Not by $100s of dollars but I would guess at least $50 per month of where I wanted to be.
I have a cute little envelope set that Lady Shelli made for me (thanks girl!) but this month I’ve just been using the stylish bank envelope. There are plenty of systems you can purchase but truly, it’s as simple as any envelope.
Why stick to cash only? Not only does it give you a good solid boundary, but there have also been studies that show we spend more when we use plastic (even debit cards) instead of cash.
Once again, I find myself feeling like I’m on a game show. And I’m winning.
Do you rock the envelope? What kind? How many? What’s your story?
