Cash Envelope Budget System Alternatives

[TheAttachedMama]

Hi Everyone,

 

I need your BIGGEST tips for making and sticking to a budget.

 

My husband and I both lack self-control when it comes to sticking to a budget.   We are great at making a "mythical" budget, but we are not so great at actually sticking to the budget.   We always seem to enable each other to spend more than we have categorized.   He might say, "Oh honey, you've had a hard day.   Why don't we eat at chipotle instead of cooking."   And I find myself having a hard time refusing that offer....because I am really tired some days.   (Aren't we all!?) 

 

I have been thinking about things, and I have decided that we need to eliminate the ability to break the budget as much as possible.   We used to be on Dave Ramsey's cash envelope system awhile back, and that was great.   However, it is also VERY hard to stick with.   

 

The biggest problem we had is that we often fail to actually make it to a real ATM to pull cash out each week to stuff our envelopes.   

 

Another problem is that sometimes the world doesn't work with cash very often.  As things become more and more automated, the world is turning to plastic.   For example, when I pump gas, I don't always want to take all of my kids out of the car to pay with cash.  (It is so much easier to use a card.)   I have the same problem with groceries.  Our grocery store has a really awesome website that allows you to order your groceries so I don't have to shop with all of the kids.  (I always overspend when I bring all of the kids with me.)   BUT, in order to use their website, you must pay with a credit card.   

 

I've been trying to get our family on a budget we actually stick with so we can meet some of our savings and debt payoff goals.   What are your tips?

 

 

By the way, we already make a budget using Every dollar (similar to mint.com)   and we track our expenses each month.   Our **problem** is that our expenses are always more than we budgeted for.   

 

(Example month:  Husband says he is going to pack his lunch every day...but he forgets his lunch, is starving, and decides to eat out because he couldn't make it until the end of the day.  Or I say, I am going to only spend $12 on homeschooling, but an "awesome, once-in-a-lifetime tour opens up" and I spend $20 paying admission.  Little things like that are killing our budget.  )     

[JudoMom]

This isn't meant to be harsh, but there is no magic formula or trick or tip for sticking to a budget.  You just have to do it and decide to say no to the expenses you haven't budgeted for even when it is hard and you'd rather do the easy or fun thing.  

For your dh's lunch, he should keep something in his car or his bag or his desk that he can eat when he forgets his lunch.  You need an easy dinner plan in your hip pocket when going out would be easier.  For those kinds of things, you can have a backup plan so you don't spend money you haven't planned on.

 

But ultimately, you have to set a realistic budget and just say no to the things that fall outside of it, even when you don't want to.  Even if it means passing up a deal, or a dinner, or an adventure.  

Edited November 9, 2017 by JudoMom

[TheAttachedMama]

This isn't meant to be harsh, but there is no magic formula or trick or tip for sticking to a budget.  You just have to do it ...

 

 

No, I need some tough love.   It wasn't harsh at all.  

[happypamama]

I think you need to look at WHY your budget fails. If you’ve had a hard day, maybe you need a compromise between eating at Chipotle and cooking a full from scratch meal. I almost always keep frozen burger patties in the house, for instance. I do plan to have them sometimes, because the kids and DH like them, but I often plan them for nights when I know I will be busy/tired/out. They can also be the emergency meal.

 

I spend time on weekends prepping breakfast for the freezer so that anyone who is running late can grab an egg scramble or a breakfast sandwich. Way cheaper, probably faster, and certainly healthier than eating out.

 

Maybe you need to up the homeschool budget a bit if it’s regularly not enough.

[Random]

This isn't meant to be harsh, but there is no magic formula or trick or tip for sticking to a budget. You just have to do it and decide to say no to the expenses you haven't budgeted for even when it is hard and you'd rather do the easy or fun thing.

 

For your dh's lunch, he should keep something in his car or his bag or his desk that he can eat when he forgets his lunch. You need an easy dinner plan in your hip pocket when going out would be easier. For those kinds of things, you can have a backup plan so you don't spend money you haven't planned on.

 

But ultimately, you have to set a realistic budget and just say no to the things that fall outside of it, even when you don't want to. Even if it means passing up a deal, or a dinner, or an adventure.

This is so true. There are no tricks or big tips. You just have to say no to yourself.

 

Maybe you & dh could brainstorm your weak spots (forgetting lunch, eating dinner out after a long, yucky day) and come up with preemptive strikes to keep you on track?

[leeannpal]

I'm with you! We just cannot stick to a severe budget because it is impossible to plan for all the things that might pop up in a month. I finally made one change that has helped us tremendously! We follow the guideline of "paying ourselves first." When we get our pay, we take a certain percentage off the top and put it into a savings account. This is not a retirement or college fund. This is our emergency and extras fund. I am also a budget shopper and careful with our money in areas that we really don't focus on. I shop sales on clothing for example and do not spend a lot of makeup or hair care. We drive older, affordable cars and continue to drive them for as long as we can after paying the car off. This helps me not feel guilty about paying for a great home school field trip or indulge in a night out occasionally. Of course, we could probably be managing our money better, but I'm happy with the choices we make and standard of living we enjoy.

[Tanaqui]

(Example month:  Husband says he is going to pack his lunch every day...but he forgets his lunch, is starving, and decides to eat out because he couldn't make it until the end of the day. Or I say, I am going to only spend $12 on homeschooling, but an "awesome, once-in-a-lifetime tour opens up" and I spend $20 paying admission. Little things like that are killing our budget.)   

 

The best thing to do here, I think, is to allow some room in the budget for each of you to have an "allowance". You can call it petty cash, discretionary spending, pocket change, mad money - but it's your money for splurges.

 

But that's it. You don't get more than that. If your husband buys lunch today and forgets his lunch tomorrow, and he doesn't have a serious illness, he goes hungry. That's the only way to break the "LOL, I forgot lunch!" habit. (If he DOES have some illness that makes skipping a meal a problem, then he should stock up on healthy non-perishables to keep at work and in his car.) If you've splurged on the homeschooling, then you can't splurge on a spa day later, or vice versa.

 

Another problem is that sometimes the world doesn't work with cash very often.  As things become more and more automated, the world is turning to plastic.   For example, when I pump gas, I don't always want to take all of my kids out of the car to pay with cash.  (It is so much easier to use a card.)   I have the same problem with groceries.  Our grocery store has a really awesome website that allows you to order your groceries so I don't have to shop with all of the kids.  (I always overspend when I bring all of the kids with me.)   BUT, in order to use their website, you must pay with a credit card. 

 

Visa check card. Put on it all the money you think you'll use for gas or groceries. Once it's used up, it's used up. Stick to your budget. (Alternatively, if it's a big brand gas station or grocery store, they may sell their own cards. That will make separating the funds easier.)

 

He might say, "Oh honey, you've had a hard day. Why don't we eat at chipotle instead of cooking?" And I find myself having a hard time refusing that offer because I am really tired some days. (Aren't we all!?)

 

It's harder to have self control at the end of a day, or when you're hungry or tired. This is a real thing, it's called "decision fatigue".

 

Since you know this is a problem for you, you need to change your habits so it doesn't come up. First of all, you and your husband need to start figuring out another way of comforting each other. Instead of "Why don't we eat out instead of cooking?", try "Why don't I make dinner instead?" or "Why don't I run you a hot bath, and I'll handle the kids after dinner so you can relax?" instead. (Or whatever you think would help! Make your own suggestions to your husband for what to say. You might even write up a list of things to suggest to each other rather than buying something for comfort and ease.)

 

Secondly, if "eating out" is a big unexpected expense - I notice it came up twice - make it harder to get into that position. Your husband forgets lunch? Make the sandwich the night before, bag it up with a piece of fruit, stick a post-it note to the door and to his bag and to the steering wheel of the car - "DID YOU GRAB YOUR LUNCH AND KISS YOUR WIFE? GO BACK AND DO THAT!" Better yet, put his car keys IN his lunch bag. He can't forget his lunch if he can't get to work without it, can he? You get tired and don't want to make dinner? Look up 30 minute meal plans, start making some meals in advance and - if they're old enough - enlist the kids! Even a six year old can help chop vegetables, and if you do all your veggie chopping in two big bunches, twice a week, then supervision won't take that much mental energy. (And if it's REALLY bad and you're REALLY tired and you REALLY don't want to make dinner, at least choose something cheaper. Pizza has got to cost less than Chipotle.)

[Tanaqui]

If you’ve had a hard day, maybe you need a compromise between eating at Chipotle and cooking a full from scratch meal. I almost always keep frozen burger patties in the house, for instance. I do plan to have them sometimes, because the kids and DH like them, but I often plan them for nights when I know I will be busy/tired/out. They can also be the emergency meal.

 

Yeah, we have six-ish meals for "ugh, don't wanna" days - spanish tortilla, burgers, baked potatoes, quesadilla, fish tacos, pancakes/french toast with fruit. We just rotate through them as appropriate. (Lentils and rice would be on that list as well, but nobody likes lentils and rice quite enough to happily eat it at the end of a long and trying day.)

[Moonhawk]

While this is technically against the David Ramsey know where every penny is going idea, you can have a "Forgotten Things" budget amount. Say, $50 for things that weren't included in the other categories. So, the $8 extra for the tour tickets comes from there, the extra lunch, the Chipotle, and the shampoo you forgot about, and the present for the birthday party you didn't know your kid would be invited to when you made the budget. But, once that $50 is gone, that's all. 

 

This gives you the opportunity to make the budget categories as they should be without having to add wiggle room everywhere, but enough wiggle room for life that you don't blow the budget in a category then say "Well, we already blew the budget, let's get ice cream!" lol, as I am wont to do. 

 

This only works if you have the money to even budget, of course, but it seems if you are spending the money, it's coming from somewhere, right?

 

Cant' help with the cash vs card part, we use credit cards for the purchases for ease, record keeping, and rewards. 

[abacus2]

You need YNAB. I used to do a cash budget and was frustrated with the impractically of cash in an internet world. YNAB allows me to track things at the same level using any payment method. The key to dealing with little things that come up is to choose what other category to take them out of. You don't want to miss out on things, but you can't pretend the money for them will come out of thin air. In the event of a needed unplanned meal, if the restaurants category is empty, look at the other categories, can that come out of groceries, or gas, or your pocket money, or utilities if your bill was low this month, etc.

[almondbutterandjelly]

For dinner, we decide the day before what dinner will be.  On Monday, we decide Tuesday's dinner and get things out to thaw and put them in the fridge.  That solves the "What do I want to make for dinner?" problem when we're tired or not in the mood. 

 

We also tend to make enough food for two or three dinners at a time.  For instance, we will buy a large pack of italian sausage and my husband will cook them all.  Then we freeze them in threes (there are three of us).  So when we decide that it will be spaghetti tomorrow, we get out already cooked sausage and just needed sauce and noodles.  And sometimes, we have extra sauce and cooked noodles in the freezer, too. 

 

Or he will make multiple hamburger patties at a time.  Super easy for future days.  We always have hamburger buns in the freezer.  Heat up some fries or open a can of baked beans, and there's dinner.  

[Annie G]

Lunch/dinner- I make something every week and put it in six mason jars. Dh grabs one each day.  Not saying that is your solution, but having a plan is the first step. And like a poster able said, dh has to keep a backup plan at work. It can be a tuna lunch kit, a can of soup  (they have a microwave), or whatever.  But the biggest hurdle is making a meal plan and EXECUTING it. I have seven dinners planned every week and by 10 AM I know which one I'm serving tonight. Plan ahead.  

 

I would suggest you have weekly budget meetings instead of monthly ones. Look at where the discretionary money went and if you stumbled take corrective action for the upcoming week. You ate dinner out? Ok, then this week you need to plan two dinners that are cheap to make up for it. Suggestions in our house would be grits and eggs or pintos and cornbread.   When you're eating your cheap meals, you might say it's worth it to have Chipotle, or you might say you'd rather not have two frugal meals to compensate for the budget breaking Chipotle. 

 

Gas- there are any number of budget apps to help you use a debit card to track spending. You can set your budgeted amount and when you buy gas you enter it in and it deducts it from your budgeted gas amount.  You can do this with every budget category. 

 

 

[SebastianCat]

We do a partial cash budget, but use cards for other expenses (like groceries and gas).   The only way you'll actually stick to a budget is to set up your budget so it works for you AND you stick to it.

 

I agree with others - you and your DH both need "walking around" money that can be spent on anything, no questions asked.  This would cover the forgotten lunches occasionally.

 

You should probably consider funding your cash system once a month, rather than once a week.   I'd go crazy trying to go to an ATM every week for cash.   Instead, I go to the bank (inside or the drive thru) once a month (because I need a specific amount of certain denominations - $___ in 20's, $___ in 10's, and $___ in 5's), and that cash carries us through the entire month.   If you spend your entire allowance of "walking around" money because you forgot your lunch three times in one week, you're done for the month.   But if you remember your lunch every day for 3 weeks, you can skip the brown bag and go out for lunch because you've got cash left over.

 

My DH brings his lunch to work almost every day, and he preps ALL of the week's lunches ahead of time, on Sunday afternoon.   That way he has no prep each morning except to grab a container from the fridge, and stick it in his bag.   I can't remember the last time he's forgotten to bring lunch.

 

I do my best to prep or at least PLAN meals a week ahead of time, especially when we have very busy seasons.   Next week, my schedule is slammed, so I already have an idea of when/what I'll cook, and plan to make large batches so we'll have leftovers.    I always try to have one "easy" meal on hand for the craziest of days that can be heated up very quickly with little to no prep.   You CAN stick to a budget with groceries if you shop based on sales AND plan your meals in advance.   It's so much less stressful to have a plan - I really don't need to think any further than, "what is for supper tonight?" and that question is always decided no later than 9:00 or 10:00 each morning rather than waiting until 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening.

 

Again, make yourself a category for "eating out" and give yourself some grace for those super busy times.   If there's cash in the envelope, then sure - go to Chipotle.   But once the cash is gone, eat PB&Js or scrambled eggs for supper when you forget to plan ahead.

[HomeAgain]

We use Every Dollar.  But like has been said, you have to make up your mind to stick with it and create a realistic budget - one that builds in the extras you're already doing instead of what you want it to be.  We have a 'miscellaneous' envelope that forgotten things or extras come out of - like this week I forgot we had our Amazon Prime renewal.  Oops!  One of those things that got dropped as we moved and had to redo the budget completely.  So it went into the miscellaneous fund right now, and next month I'll put it in the 'cable' category as an $8/mo expense.

 

Right now I don't look at the total figures in our bank account.  That's a good way to make me lose track of what we're doing.  I look at Every Dollar to see how much is left in each category and we glance at the expenditures in our account to make sure we've caught them all.  We have our accounts set so that each expenditure is categorized almost automatically (for example, every visit to the grocery store automatically logs as 'food', but one time expenses require me to go in and label them).  I can pull up a 30 day report of what we've spent in each category and what percentage it is overall.  I may not always like the numbers :lol: but it helps to see where we can trim.

 

[Rachel]

We basically use the envelope system. A couple things we have done is go to the bank on or the day after payday. We just do it, we don't spend money if it hasn't been done.

 

We don't use cash for everything. We pay all our bills online. My husband puts money on a gift card for the gas station so I can still pay at the pump. He can do it online so it's easy.

 

When little things come up like field trip tickets I order online, I take cash from the school envelope and put it in the "bank" envelope. That's money to be deposited back in the bank. I do the same thing when we have $400 in the grocery envelope but I only took $100 to the store and forgot we needed dog food or whatever that can't just wait.

 

We budget about the same amount for school expenses every month with more at the beginning of the semester when I'll be ordering more books. When I don't spend all the money, I leave it in the envelope to cover the "once in a lifetime" stuff. If there is no money, we don't go.

 

Money isn't so tight for us these days, but we still pay attention to our money. I had to learn to say no. It was easy to say no back when we were newlyweds and $10 for an unexpected expense was a HUGE deal. Now that $10 isn't such a huge deal it isn't as easy to say no. But all those extra $10 add up. If you can't afford to eat out for every meal, you can't. Leave a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter at the office for emergencies if that's what it takes to break the eating out habit. Budget to eat out for one night a week or whatever you can realistically afford and then stick to it. If your husband realistically won't take a lunch 5 days a week, start with once or twice a week. Work together to make it happen until it's routine.

 

Good luck!

Edited November 9, 2017 by Rach

[Carol in Cal.]

For me the big shift was mental, and it came from reading "Your Money Or Your Life".  That switched me from feeling deprived if, say, I said no to the Chipoltle offer, to feeling empowered because I was choosing something better than I had firmly in mind (in my case, staying home with DD a little longer).  I can't recommend that book highly enough.

[ScoutTN]

You need YNAB. I used to do a cash budget and was frustrated with the impractically of cash in an internet world. YNAB allows me to track things at the same level using any payment method. The key to dealing with little things that come up is to choose what other category to take them out of. You don't want to miss out on things, but you can't pretend the money for them will come out of thin air. In the event of a needed unplanned meal, if the restaurants category is empty, look at the other categories, can that come out of groceries, or gas, or your pocket money, or utilities if your bill was low this month, etc.

 

 

YNAB helps us too. don't love the new subscription model though. We have the old one, paid once use it for years and years. Being able to enter expenses at the point of sale, immediately, on my phone is a huge help! 

 

Are there other, equally good, online budget set-ups?

[ScoutTN]

When we did cash/envelopes, we only used envelopes for things where we might overspend, like groceries or gifts or restaurants.

 

We pay all our utilities, mortgage, insurance, etc.

Gas is just a necessary thing and we never buy more than we need. And yes, it is way too much hassle to pay inside with little kids in your car! 

[PeachyDoodle]

We do use the cash system and, honestly, I think it's much easier to stick with cash. I know going to the ATM is a pain but we have made it a priority. One of us goes to the bank every two weeks on payday and takes out everything we need to get through the next two weeks. Cash expenses include groceries, gas, and haircuts. We also budget a set amount each month that we just call "Miscellaneous." If we want to go out to eat, or need to pick up something at the drug store, or the kids have an unexpected extracurricular expense, we use that cash.

 

However, we do also do a lot of online shopping, and for those things, I keep funds in our savings account. I use a spreadsheet to track how much is in each category, as it comes in and out. Two spreadsheets, actually -- one is a check register, but for our savings account, where I list every dollar that comes in and out and a running total. The other breaks down the entire account into multiple categories: emergency fund, kids' clothes, adult clothes, homeschool curriculum/supplies, car repairs, etc. It is a little extra work, but at the end of each month I can see exactly how much we have in each category. We make it a point to put money into each of those funds each month if possible (dh is on commission, so some months it's not possible -- I have it prioritized so that the most important categories are filled first). It is extra work but it keeps us from blowing our money. I try to keep a couple hundred bucks extra in our checking account so that there's coverage when I buy things and I don't have to move the money right away. But mostly our checking account is just in and out to pay known expenses. All other funds are cash or from our savings.

 

A lot of it just comes down to discipline. Look for ways to organize it so it's as brainless as possible and know your weak spots so you can find ways to compensate them. It used to drive me crazy that it was impossible to budget for everything because of the unknowns, which is why I started budgeting miscellaneous cash. If you have an emergency fund, that helps too -- but you can't go to Chipotle on your emergency money! :)

 

ETA: Dh especially had to get used to this when we started it. He was very much used to just slapping whatever he wanted on his debit card. If you really need to rely on debit to make "everyday" purchases like groceries and gas, I would suggest using a separate checking account just for those things, or, if you're disciplined enough, a credit card that gets paid off at the end of the month. Also, I get the gas thing with young kids in the car. We mostly solved that by having Dh fill up both cars on the weekends.

Edited November 9, 2017 by PeachyDoodle

[TechWife]

Keeping the end goal in mind is what keeps us on track. Do you have a long term financial goal that you have broken down into intermediate and short term goals? 

 

Our long term goal is to be able to maintain our current lifestyle/standard of living when we retire. This means that we must put money into retirement accounts. In order to do this, we have to maintain a debt free lifestyle. We also have to make a decision about what, exactly is important to us so that we don't live above our means when our long term goal is taken into account. This causes us to moderate our expenses. No, we don't need the biggest house we can afford, most expensive cars, etc. because if we did that, we would not be able to put money aside for retirement. By choosing to moderate our expenses and behavior now, we are working towards that long term goal. 

 

From a practical standpoint, I highly recommend Crown Ministries (formerly Christian Financial Concepts). It is similar to Dave Ramsey, but Dave Ramsey says he learned everything he knows from Larry Burkett, the founder of CFC. Crown has a distinctly Christian emphasis, which is the biggest difference between the two organizations. Another resource for information, encouragement and coaching on financial matters is Clark Howard. He has a daily radio show and an active website ( http://clark.com ) with tips and advice about a lot of different things. 

[abacus2]

YNAB helps us too. don't love the new subscription model though. We have the old one, paid once use it for years and years. Being able to enter expenses at the point of sale, immediately, on my phone is a huge help! 

 

Are there other, equally good, online budget set-ups?

 

I still use YNAB4 too. However, I think the new one has features that make it easier for a new person starting out. As far as I am aware, there is still nothing else like YNAB.

[Ravin]

I can tell you what worked for me.

 

My bank (USAA) has a system in which you can add expected transactions, including direct deposits and withdrawals/expenditures. I use this feature to build my budget.

 

First, I have my paycheck programmed into it.

Then, I add in all the monthly and biweekly bills.

I set a gas budget based on what I typically use--it's gone up with the gas prices, but I will not lower it back down if gas prices drop. This is set up as a weekly "transaction."

I do the same for "weekly spending money"; if I was the person buying all the groceries, I would split it into "groceries" and "everything else" but someone else buys groceries as their contribution to the household.

 

Anyway, as I spend money from the "spending money" and "gas money" categories, I keep the balance as "spending money residual" and "gas money residual" as its own transaction; when I get to the date starting the new week for those expenses, I add in the week's amount and delete the weekly transaction (but not the entire transaction series).

 

It also gives me a good way of remembering to pay all the bills. I can see six weeks out to make sure everything is staying balanced.

 

I do have a couple of credit cards; I aim to pay those off as I spend on them so that we see benefit from the cashback rewards and build credit, without incurring interest. I also use them to smooth out unexpected expenses such as car repairs and medical bills; I have a couple of hundred bucks right now going to one to catch it up. Also, because I am paid biweekly, when I hit a "triple payday month", which happens about twice a year, I use the "extra" to pay down debt. Anything  buy on credit cards (such as gas) I immediately set up a bank payment to transfer the money to the card and deduct it from the "transaction" used to budget money. In this way, I pay things like my verizon bill with a credit card to get the cashback reward without running up the card with routine bills in the process. 

[City Mouse]

I will start out by admitting that my DH and I did not budget for many, many years and got into some financial difficulties because of our bad habits.

Fast forward a bit, and we started following a budget in August. It has taken us a while to really get the hang of it, but now I wish we had started a long time ago.

We use Dave Ramsey's Every Dollar app(free version). It is like his envelop system but electronic. We still use plastic, but now each time we use a card,the amount has to go in the app somewhere. I tried the cash only thing for a while, but it didn't work so well for us.

We have found the app easy to use after the initial learning curve. I really like that the info can be opened on any device. My DH mostly likes to use it on the computer, but we both have it on our phones, and I have it on my iPad as well. I can open the app at the store, if I need to see if I have enough money to get xxx item.

Edited November 10, 2017 by City Mouse

[Carol in Cal.]

So this isn't budget tips per se, but it IS what we have done to manage our expenses.

 

We set up 401K deductions.  Then we set up automatic deposit of regular paychecks, but spread over two accounts.  The checking account is for everyday expenses and monthly bills--mortgage, untilities, food, etc.

 

The savings account is for RECURRING NON-MONTHLY expenses, because these are what used to bite us.  These include a guess on car repairs, holiday and special occasion gifts, property taxes, annual or semi-annual insurance bills, and a little fat because some of those bills go up with inflation.  I added these all up, divided by 26 paychecks, and started to have a little more than that figure go into the savings account from each paycheck.  So whenever a bill in one of those categories comes in (KEY!), I would try to pay for it out of a tail end of my checking account after the regular bills had been paid.  That was sometimes possible, but usually only partially so.  However, that way the savings could grow, and every once in a while we could use for an addition to our emergency fund (which was in another savings account) or paying ahead on our mortgage, or for a special purchase, or for investments.

 

Why this was important was that it took the nonrecurring nonmonthly expenses, which were large, out of our regular checking account, so we really knew what we had in there.  Otherwise at certain times of the year it would look like we had a lot of money that was undesignated, but it really WAS designated.

 

Then I tried to drive the biggest expenses down, one by one, specifically the discretionary ones.  I planted fruit trees--cheap, easy, available.  I figured out when the sales were on specific things that I bought over and over like shoes and lipstick.  I started with free exchanges, thrift stores, and garage sales if we needed clothes, and then moved up to warehouse stores or sales if I couldn't find what we wanted.  I started to make more presents, although that is something I don't always do--it's very time consuming and I don't feel guilty if I don't get to it.

 

One thing I will confess that we have never really done is driven down eating out to my satisfaction.  It is DH's default comfort, and even though he likes my cooking and his cooking, he frequently doesn't want either of us to spend the time on it.  He won't eat leftovers so we can't save time that way.  And most frozen 'quick meal' foods from Costco don't really suit him.  So that is something that bothers me--once he retires down the road, we are not going to be able to afford this.  I hope that having the extra time means that we will start being more willing to cook often.  I HAVE told him that if he wants to retire he should practice having an upper spending limit on things like that, but he just won't go along with this.  Well, we all have our little quirks.

 

ETA:  Forgot to mention--I also pay bills in advance whenever I can.  That means, when they come in if I have the money I pay them.  And if they will keep money on account (like a lot of credit card companies and utilities will do), if I have extra money I pay them extra.  In theory, this loses me interest.  However, in practice, if I get busy the next month and half of my bills come in with no balance due, it saves me a lot of time.  I'm all about building margin into my life--margin in both money and time wherever possible.

Edited November 9, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[HomeAgain]

Dh and I just had our weekly budget meeting a few minutes ago and another thought came to me.  As I was adding all this week's bill transactions to Every Dollar, I realized this is what makes our budget work.  Not only is it every week (right before the weekend), but that little things that come up can be taken care of with "okay, which category do you want to move the money from?"  When we're both a part of seeing how we're shifting priorities, the immediate "priorities" become less important.

[threeofakind]

We have found following the 50/30/20 budget guidelines the easiest to follow so far.  

 

Besides that, we do use credit cards for the majority of things.  But, on pay days my husband takes out his allowance in cash and has that for 2 weeks.  Since I do most of the shopping, etc. he just uses his for the times he forgets lunch, etc.  He also does not carry his credit card with him- unless it is a day he needs to get gas.  Otherwise his cc is at home.  It took us awhile to figure out what works and what does not- but leaving the credit card or bank cards at home has worked. 

 

As others stated- meal planning and having emergency back up meals is important.  One thing I heard of a mom doing is once she spends 75-85% of the grocery budget a month on credit card, she gets out the remaining 15-25% in cash in order not to overspend.  I have not done that, but that is another idea to try.

 

But overall it is will power to not overspend and stick with what you planned!  Good luck!

[bethben]

We use Every Dollar.  But like has been said, you have to make up your mind to stick with it and create a realistic budget - one that builds in the extras you're already doing instead of what you want it to be.  We have a 'miscellaneous' envelope that forgotten things or extras come out of - like this week I forgot we had our Amazon Prime renewal.  Oops!  One of those things that got dropped as we moved and had to redo the budget completely.  So it went into the miscellaneous fund right now, and next month I'll put it in the 'cable' category as an $8/mo expense.

 

Right now I don't look at the total figures in our bank account.  That's a good way to make me lose track of what we're doing.  I look at Every Dollar to see how much is left in each category and we glance at the expenditures in our account to make sure we've caught them all.  We have our accounts set so that each expenditure is categorized almost automatically (for example, every visit to the grocery store automatically logs as 'food', but one time expenses require me to go in and label them).  I can pull up a 30 day report of what we've spent in each category and what percentage it is overall.  I may not always like the numbers :lol: but it helps to see where we can trim.

 

Same here - we have the every dollar app and both dh and I can add to it.  As far as the "I'm tired" meals, I buy some easy frozen meals from Costco.  They're still a little pricey, but not as much as our family would spend eating out.