This month I have decided to try a new budgeting system. The envelope system seems to be a great idea, but it is a little more work. I'll stick to it for at least a few months and let you know how it goes.
You can read more about it here.
Does anyone else do this? What are your secrets to saving money?
11 comments:
Yeah we do the "cash" budget too and it really works for us. I'm glad you are trying it too
I've heard it's a good system. But I've never tried it. The thing holding me back is I hate change! Haha!
so awesom! I can't wait for prop 8 to pass so we can start that new blog! What should we call it...?
my secret of saving money is keeping it in the bank and not using my debit card at all It works pretty well but I don't have a family to take care of and I don't plan to for a while either
I'm excited to hear how this works out. I've thought about doing it so many times, but never have.
I have a quick story about your blog for you. Life is a Highway came on while we were looking at your blog and Will says, "It's the Lightening song!! I LOVE it!!" The song is on Cars the movie. Will's been dancing the entire time it's been on. :)
You may have already tried this, but it was a big help for us. David and I put together a budget on Excel. All categories were listed with certain amounts. We kept receipts for any spending we did and that same night we would put it on the page in its category and the "leftover" number on our excel budget would automatically change. We would save each month's record-- helped in reviewing and adjusting if needed. Fun to compare months. It was easy and to the point.
We put everything possible on our AMX Blue which pays us cash back (1-5%). We pay it off in full each month. It is also a great way to track expenditures since we can look up exactly what we bought. I am a HUGE American Express fan as you may know...it is one of my favorite things:) GREAT customer service and protection from fraud, products you accidentally break, etc... I could go on and on. Then we upload everything to Quicken and categorize it. We are a little obsessive around here...we even break down our Wal-Mart receipts...I guess Tyler is a true CPA:)
Although I don't do this and I'm still trying to figure out the whole budget thing too, Grandma is an EXPERT on this system. It's worked for her for years and she is a great contact person for it. It worked so well that she was able to lavish the family with Christmas gifts last year, and on their very fixed incomes, I think it was pretty darn amazing! I love ya! Glad you guys are doing well!
Lori, read the book called rich on any income...we live off of it and love it. It's just like the envelope system but i didn't feel safe caring that much cash with me. You can find the book on eBay for pennies, or the library and the register book it uses you can buy at seagull book.
Lor,
I created a spreadsheet that basically follows the same idea, but you don't have to worry about the cash. You just enter your receipts and it counts everything up for you. Let me know if you're interested.
Bry
Hey Lori! Hope you don't mind, but I found your blog through Sheena's :) I have been doing the envelope system and it REALLY helps us stick to our budget. I've had to move cash around as we figure out what we really do spend money on and where it is needed, but we're getting it figured out. It has helped a lot though with random purchases so we've been able to save money and stick to our budget! Good luck and let me know if you learn anything new from it that we could benefit from!
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