Make-Do Budgeting
I’m not a regular participant in Make-Do Mondays. Maybe it’s because I’m not that resourceful. In fact, this week’s tip actually belongs to my husband. A lot of us have heard of Dave Ramsey’s cash envelope budgeting method. I know several friends who have used it quite successfully. But our family does much of its shopping online. Cash doesn’t work so well for those kinds of purchases. My husband also travels a lot, which would be really inconvenient without a credit card. We also earn cash back with our credit card, which comes in handy for paying taxes at the end of the year.
We are really pretty good about our spending, but lately we have needed to make a few major purchases that have made things tight around here. I really wanted to try out the envelope system, but not give up the convenience of the credit card. Enter the Make-Do Envelope Budgeting System.
It’s simple, really. Get a bunch of envelopes, and mark them with the various areas that you spend money in. Things like entertainment, food, gas, clothing, etc. Make an extra envelope and label it “spent/change.” Write the amount of your monthly budget in the corner. Now go to your game closet, find your Monopoly set, or any other game with play money that you can’t get out now that you have children. Pull out enough “cash” to cover your monthly budget, plus some extras for your “spent/change” envelope. Since you aren’t using real money, you’ll have to make change for yourself. Now put the allotted amount in each envelope, plus the extra in the “spent/change” envelope. Isn’t this getting fun?
Now every time you use your credit card, bank card, whatever, get out your stack of envelopes and redistribute the money. We like to make it easy and round off our purchases to the nearest dollar. Our budget is a tool, not an inconvenience. Plus my math skills aren’t so great, so it makes it easier on my maxed-out Mommy brain.
Don’t forget to put your envelopes in a kid-proof place just in case they decide they want to play “budget.” Unless you have a written record somewhere, it won’t be pretty.
7 Comments to Make-Do Budgeting
Wow! What a simple solution, this is just awesome. I think I will make our own family money. And we will keep track of how it is used by writing on our envelopes, this is something I have done in the past when I have used the envelope system. I just have never used play money before, but it makes perfect sense.
Thanks so much for posting such a fun and usable tip.
Shari
May 4, 2009
I LOVE this creative solution–I have the very same need. I want the envelopes, but I don’t want to fill them with real cash. We still want to get the points and discounts of the credit card…I really like this. It’s tangible. And kind of fun, too.
May 4, 2009
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May 4, 2009
Dave Ramsey is a neat guy. I love his envelope system. It’s great how you (and DH) made it work for the way your family lives – that’s how to make it work!
May 4, 2009
This is the most creative thing that I have every seen in budgeting! That is great! Thanks so much for the idea. I am a convenience credit card user also. This tip really is good for me because I get the convenience of a credit card, rewards of a credit card, and am able to apply a simple basic budgeting trick!
Thanks again for the great idea!
May 6, 2009
This is a great idea, and the tip to keep it away from children so they don’t re-do the budget! It would be a great thing to do with children too though.
May 7, 2009
What a great idea. We rarely carry cash and use our debt/credit cards, which offer there own rewards. Your idea will work great for our family. Thanks for sharing.
May 4, 2009