Cash envelope system

[trillium]

Has anyone adopted the cash envelope system with great success?

thanks
-trill

[Broken Arrow]

Yes. Paging Ima.

[ozzy gurl]

I'm working on it...it is more of a Ziplock baggie system now...but I am trying.

[cptacek]

It is working for my food costs. I don't spend much on anything else frivilous, just food (restuarants, groceries, bar tabs, liquor) and books, so I am budgeting a certain amount every week in cash to use.

[Diolla]

I use it regularly and it has really helped me control my spending on things like food, household items, entertainment, clothes and gifts. I tried using virtual envelopes and spending using my credit card but found I went over the amounts in the virtual envelopes so I am back using actual cash in real envelopes.

[Ima saver]

I started mine 42 years ago before I had a checking account. I write down everything I need to pay, including those once or twice a year expenses. (car insurance, house insurance, car tags and property taxes)
I make up an envelope for each bill and put 1/4 (we get paid weekly) into these envelopes each week. When I pay the bills, I pull out the cash, deposit it and mail the checks.
The trick is to never borrow from an envelope.
If I do (rarely) I put a post it note on it, and pay it back first the following week.

I added up my once or twice yearly expenses, the tags, taxes and insurance and divided by 52 weeks. So, I now put away $140 a week in that envelope. I keep that money in my personal checking and let it build up.

I tryed, a few years ago, to do this on paper, but I have done it this way for so long, I just went back to it.

Oh yes, my first envelope that I pay each week is savings; I pay myself first!

[living_in_oz]

Yep! And it works great for me. I do it a little different than Ima does. I also list everything I need to pay every week/month. Plus, I also have catagories like "gifts" that I don't spend out of every week, but I budget for anyway so the money is there when I need it(mostly at Christmas time). Most of my money goes into my checking account. I keep out cash and have real envelopes for:
Food
Kid's allowance
DS school lunch money
Beer(for HD...his only vice!LOL)
Household(TP, shampoo, trash bags, etc)
General(cash for extra's like school field trips, school supplies, etc)

I keep a list of each bill catagory(water, electric, phone, etc). When the our paycheck is deposited it is all deposited in the checking account except for the cash I keep out for the items above. I have broken down how much money from each check needs to be deposited into each "envelope" for bills. Now, I don't actually put it in an envelope, it's more of a virtual envelope because the money is actually setting in my checking account, but I do record each week how much of check was was virtually deposited into each catagory envelope. For instance, I budget $50 a week for the electric bill. I only pay that bill once a month, but the $50 is put in every week from each paycheck. When I pay my bill the money in the bank because I deposited in my virtual envelope.
I hope I said that clearly. I may have just confused you more!LOL

This system works well for me because I work best when I know my limits. If I only have $30 left for groceries than I will not spend more than that. My family may just end up eating lots of grilled cheese sandwiches until my envelope is refilled. This almost never happens though.

There's a software program called Mvelopes that does the same thing I do, only it's on the computer instead of paper. I don't use it because I don't want to pay the extra expense, and well, I'm just a plain old "pencil and paper" kind of gal. I work better with a physical piece of paper in front of me. The software might work better for you though!

[Ima saver]

Of course, I don't know how to use a computer for anything, but i am a plain old pen and paper kind of person too. Every Monday is my payday and I look forward to coming home and putting all the cash away in the envelopes.

[PRICEPLUS]

Julie you are truly an inspiration! The old pen and pencil system is effective and works quite well thank you!