Cash only budget question (discretionary) ~

[FairyMom]

If you use cash only for discretionary purchases, do you separate it out into categories?

 

For example:

Groceries

Toiletries

Eating Out/Entertainment

School Supplies

Gas

Clothing/Shoes

 

... or do you get "x" money out per week/month and just spend it when/where you need to.

 

If you do categories, do you keep all your money with you all the time?

 

We are trying to save up for an office for my dh, who currently works out of our bedroom. :)

[Moxie]

Our catagories are "Grocery" (for anything purchased at WM), "DH eating out" and "Misc" (tooth fairy, quick McDonald's trip, something for the house at Target, little things that always sneak up). Simple but effective!

 

I should add that we don't eat out right now. The baby is 3 months old so it isn't any fun. If we did, I'd have a catagory for that too.

[FairyMom]

I want to simplify it. I can't do twelve categories and expect to stick with it. Thinking out loud.

[hmvaughan4]

We have:

Groceries (includes anything I buy when I'm grocery shopping- household items, toiletries, diapers, etc.)

DH Fun Money

My Fun Money

Boys Fun Money

Restaurant

Gas

 

DH and I spend our money as we wish. I spend the boys' money as I/we see fit. This summer, is has covered swim lessons for DS5, plus extras (special trip to Chuck E Cheese, books, school supplies). It does not include curriculum.

[Mergath]

I used to separate groceries and toiletries, but it got to be too much of a hassle when I was at the store and had a cart full of both. Now, I pretty much just divide it into money for stuff we need, gas money, and money for fun stuff. Homeschool materials can come out of any category at my discretion. :D

[Katy]

We keep track using a phone app called EEBA. We break it into Groceries (including most toiletries and going out to eat), Blow money for each of us (including things like makeup and haircuts and incidental fast food), Gas/Car expenses. Other things we spend money on are planned but not recorded in the envelope app.

 

I typically use a debit card (I refuse to carry much cash for safety reasons), and DH typically takes cash out for his blow money. Sometimes he takes extra cash out and gives it to me, but I usually forget I have it and just give it back to him to buy lunch out on days something is going on and I have nothing prepared for him to take to work.

[happypamama]

I have a category for gas, because if I lump it into everything else, we could potentially not have enough for DH to get to work. I also put toiletries, household products, pet food, and the like in groceries (roughly knowing about how much of it should be for food and how much should be for other household items). I also have a school category, and I have a miscellaneous category. Right now, there isn't fun money or clothing money or even car repair money; if something desperately needs to be purchased, we use the misc category or take it from the limited savings we have.

[ColoNative]

We use cash for everything we go to the store for, except gasoline, and we use credit card for that. We don't separate into categories....if I know there is a purchase I need to make, like clothes for the boys, I'll set aside that money but other than that, I find it too cumbersome to divide into categories, especially when toiletries and groceries often come from the same places (Costco, Target, etc.).

[Lara in Colo]

I have x money, what is leftover after needs, goes for other stuff. Needs change, last week a high need was dd's birthday stuff, this time its the ingredients for cupcakes for a "yea the cancer treatments are done" party for my neighbor.

 

I don't categorize the needs, but I almost never spend money freely (like for a coffee). I found when I did categorize, I was constantly moving money around for needs.

[Priscila]

All the bills are paid online, and savings stays in the bank.

 

The rest is cash, and we have four categories:

-Household (this includes groceries and everything else for the house)

-Entertainment (this includes eating out/ordering in/movies/other)

-Petrol (gas money, when it runs out then we walk or stay in)

-Emergency cash (for whatever, usually gets saved up and used for new clothes, milk or eggs if we run out well before next payday, et cetera)

[sleeplessnights]

We use cash for items in which we can easily over-spend. We use a separate envelope for each category:

 

1. Groceries/toiletries/other regular household needs

 

2. Restaurants/Entertainment

 

3. Clothing (husband envelope, kids envelope, my envelope)

 

We also keep track of other items like homeschool items, vacations, and car maintenance, but we don't use cash for these. I take cash out twice a month and carry the household money (or at least some of it) in my wallet. It's amazing how much your spending will change when you start using cash!

[MomatHWTK]

I think if you are trying to save for something, then it's a good idea to budget an amount for each discretionary category and try to stick with it. My mother has always used the envelope system. She would tuck away a few dollars each month in the "clothing" envelope, etc. Then when it was time to shop for new clothes, what was in the envelope was what we were able to spend. She would save for summer camp, one a year payments, everything. Just a little at a time.

 

I don't divide things up now- it's either a fixed bill that's in the budget or "mine to spend." However, I am also not saving as much as I would like because if it is mine to spend I spend it. :glare: That's why I recommend the full budget if possible. You can estimate what you think you should or want to spend in each category then divide it by 12 months to see how much is left.

[DawnM]

This is what we do.

 

I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) online.

 

I have master categories and sub-categories.

 

So, for example:

 

Housing is my master category

Under that I have:

 

Mortgage

Utilities

Home Repair

Garbage

 

That way if I go over on one category a bit I can cut back on the other and even it out.

 

I don't carry much cash. I don't feel comfortable doing that.

 

 

If you use cash only for discretionary purchases, do you separate it out into categories?

 

For example:

Groceries

Toiletries

Eating Out/Entertainment

School Supplies

Gas

Clothing/Shoes

 

... or do you get "x" money out per week/month and just spend it when/where you need to.

 

If you do categories, do you keep all your money with you all the time?

 

We are trying to save up for an office for my dh, who currently works out of our bedroom. :)

[FairyMom]

Thank you all so much for the thoughtful responses. I'm going to sit down and try and come up with a plan with dh tonight. :)

[Entropymama]

My money is categorized:

 

Groceries (including household items)

Clothing

Gas

Kid's activities (sports, museums, etc)

Needs (haircuts, other kid's birthday gifts)

Fun stuff (eating out, clothes we don't need)

 

My husband's cash started out divided similarly, but he prefers to just spend as he sees fit.

[Dory]

I do categories. Anything that I buy at the grocery store or the drug store is put in the groceries category. The dog foods and livestock feed I buy separately. Clothing, blow money(but we don't keep track of where that goes), eating out, and entertainment all have their separate categories. That's it because all the bills are paid on-line and money for insurance is set into a separate bank account every month along with the money every month that we set aside for building, dental and so on.

[acurtis75]

This is a little off topic but if you are saving for an office outside of your house definately check in to executive suites. We are in the process of planning an office move and I was surprised how inexpensive a lot of the executive suite options are. In our are most of them have Internet, someone to answer the phone and conference rooms to share. There were options for $500 a month close to us and in some areas even less than that.

 

It wouldn't work for us because our needs were pretty specific but if I were working in my bedroom and looking for an office it would be at the top of my list.

[lovinmomma]

This is a little off topic but if you are saving for an office outside of your house definately check in to executive suites. We are in the process of planning an office move and I was surprised how inexpensive a lot of the executive suite options are. In our are most of them have Internet, someone to answer the phone and conference rooms to share. There were options for $500 a month close to us and in some areas even less than that.

 

It wouldn't work for us because our needs were pretty specific but if I were working in my bedroom and looking for an office it would be at the top of my list.

 

We offer this at my office. It's a great option IMO.

[Sparkle]

I have:

Groceries/Toiletries/Household Items - divided into weekly amounts

Pets

Gas

Charitable Contributions

Clothing

Miscellaneous - stuff like haircuts, books, school supplies

Medical - prescription co-pays, doctor visit co-pays

 

That's about it. All our bills I pay by check or by automatic withdrawal; everything else is on a cash basis.

[FairyMom]

This is a little off topic but if you are saving for an office outside of your house definately check in to executive suites. We are in the process of planning an office move and I was surprised how inexpensive a lot of the executive suite options are. In our are most of them have Internet, someone to answer the phone and conference rooms to share. There were options for $500 a month close to us and in some areas even less than that.

 

It wouldn't work for us because our needs were pretty specific but if I were working in my bedroom and looking for an office it would be at the top of my list.

 

Thank you so much for the suggestion, but we want something on our land. We have a small farm in the country and want him to be close, just not my bedroom. ;)

[Mommyof4ks]

We have played with cash systems for a few years, and it really depends on how it works best for your family. Our expenses change each month, so we set aside X amount for food, gas, and our set bills (mortgage, insurance, soon), and then we take out X for savings. Whatever is left is what we have to spend that month on whatever we need. In August that mo ey will go to instrument lessons for the kds, a few books for school, and a few work clothes for dh. In Sept. that money will go to a mission trip, fall clothes for the kids, and so on. Some people do better saving a bit each month for those things, but have a bit of an ADD type personality, and we change our minds about what we want to do all the time. :D

[FairyMom]

I'm hoping it does change a lot!! Thanks. :)

We use cash for items in which we can easily over-spend. We use a separate envelope for each category:

 

1. Groceries/toiletries/other regular household needs

 

2. Restaurants/Entertainment

 

3. Clothing (husband envelope, kids envelope, my envelope)

 

We also keep track of other items like homeschool items, vacations, and car maintenance, but we don't use cash for these. I take cash out twice a month and carry the household money (or at least some of it) in my wallet. It's amazing how much your spending will change when you start using cash!

[FairyMom]

We have played with cash systems for a few years, and it really depends on how it works best for your family. Our expenses change each month, so we set aside X amount for food, gas, and our set bills (mortgage, insurance, soon), and then we take out X for savings. Whatever is left is what we have to spend that month on whatever we need. In August that mo ey will go to instrument lessons for the kds, a few books for school, and a few work clothes for dh. In Sept. that money will go to a mission trip, fall clothes for the kids, and so on. Some people do better saving a bit each month for those things, but have a bit of an ADD type personality, and we change our minds about what we want to do all the time. :D

 

I need to reign in my ADD expenditures. ;) I get side tracked a lot. I'm hoping a fixed amount in cash will help, just not too complicated.

[FairyMom]

I used to separate groceries and toiletries, but it got to be too much of a hassle when I was at the store and had a cart full of both. Now, I pretty much just divide it into money for stuff we need, gas money, and money for fun stuff. Homeschool materials can come out of any category at my discretion. :D

 

The hassle is what I was trying to avoid. I dont want to give myself an excuse to stop. Thanks for telling me this. :)

[Scuff]

We separate out some things, like grocery/toiletries. But things like school supplies and clothes, which aren't needed regularly, we just add into the budget with the extra money available. We do budget it in, since it is a limited amount. I suspect that if we just got cash out and spent it as needed, some things that aren't as important would be purchased and we'd run out of $ for other, more important things.

[AngelaNYC]

I break it up into categories and put the money into envelopes. I also have a "miscellaneous" envelope, though, for things that aren't planned.