So it’s been 4, almost 5, months since we started budgeting utilizing Dave Ramsey’s envelope system and 3 months since my last update. How’s it going?
Well, the envelopes are dead.
But not by choice. AND the budget is still alive and kicking.
About two months into using the cash/envelopes, which I LOVED, we had $100 disappear. I’m not going to speculate how it happened but the bottom line is the money never showed back up and I just couldn’t make myself risk it again. So for the past 2 months I’ve heavily relied on the Excel version of my budget as well as Mint.com to track all of our expenses but especially our envelope money. I log on nearly every day and, yes, manually enter how much we’ve spent. And I have to say, I like it. Yes, cash holds you much more accountable but doing it this way relieves all the headache of shuffling money around when you’re caught without your envelopes.
What I love is that budgeting has nearly curbed our frivolous spending. I mean, really. Sometimes I go all week without spending my blow money and now that I think of it, Scott hasn’t even asked about his in a few weeks. I didn’t buy ANY clothes for anyone in January. We had money left in our entertainment budget even though we went to the circus. We’re eating in much more and while I know I could save more money grocery shopping with coupons, we’re staying within our budgeted amount. By saving in these categories, we’re able to use the extra for things like unexpected doctor bills, pharmacy bills and guitars that aren’t in the budget without ever having to touch our emergency fund. I guess what I’m saying is I LOVE our budget and I really don’t know if I could or would ever live without one again.
In closing, I know I’ve plugged this book before but if you still haven’t checked out Jon Acuff’s new book Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt you should. If you are a Dave Ramsey-er it’s a must read.
Amy, thanks for the review on this. We do pretty well with our own budget system but I always wondered how well we’d do on the envelope system.
I need to check out Jon Acuff’s new book. Read his first one and I knew he had another one out but I didn’t realize it was ab out this subject. Thanks for the info!
Trina recently posted…Reinventing Your Jewelry
I’m going to be taking the Financial Peace University class at church, so this is an encouraging post. My husband said he didn’t want to take the class because there’s no way we can do it, but I’m determined to learn.
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I was SO scared of a budget, much less envelopes, but with dedication and a little work it is really the BEST thing. Gives us so much peace of mind.