You have a budget, but do you still find yourself spending too much? The Dave Ramsey envelope system can keep your finances organized and help you learn to spend your money in better ways.
What you need is a simple
system to help get things under control. Back in the day people used envelopes
to help control their monthly spending. That system has fallen out of use as more and more people just swipe the old debit card. The envelope system is a key part of the Total Money
Makeover because it works well.
What Are The Basics For Starting The
Envelope System?
Budget each paycheck – I
know, that’s a nasty word for some people, but you have to budget if this is going to work for you.
Divide your money – There
may be bills that get deducted from your bank account or that you
have to pay by check that you won’t be able to have an envelope for, but you
can make envelopes for everything else such as food, gas, clothing, and
entertainment.
Fill up the envelopes – After you have
budgeted your cash expenses, fill each envelope with the money you have
allotted for that item. For example, if your amount for clothing is $100, then
put that amount in the envelope.
When it’s gone, it’s gone!
Once all the money in an envelope is spent, you have no more money for that
category until the envelope is ‘recharged’ on the next budget cycle. This
doesn’t mean that you can just go to the ATM and grab more. No fair using your
debit card either. While you can’t get into debt using your debit card, it does
make it way too easy to overspend. There is something about spending cash that
hits your psyche and helps you curb your impulsive spending.
Give it some time. It’s
going to take some time to get the envelope system perfected. You can make some adjustments to the
system if you need to for your pay periods and add the small things you found that you
forgot in the original run through. Once you get the hang of the envelope
system you will see how it benefits you
and your plan to be debt free.
No comments:
Post a Comment