Comments on: Budgeting Basics: Using Cash

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 28 May 2010 23:39:45 +0000

Your budget system sounds exactly like ours–excel spreadsheet with multiple categories. We tried cash with a few categories, but I didn’t like having to remember to grab the cash envelopes before I left home since I wasn’t comfortable carrying them all the time. I also felt like I couldn’t track my expenses in a certain category very well. We’ve now gone to completely debit/credit card except for the small amount of blow money we each get every month.

Our excel sheet budget also doubles as our check register and my husband updates it several times a week. That way our budget is always 100% accurate and up to date and I always know exactly what I have left to spend, especially towards the end of the month.

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Fri, 28 May 2010 14:06:54 +0000

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By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:43:42 +0000

Has anyone heard of the “Budget Book Method”? I started using coupons about 9 months ago. I was so excited to see how much I could get for my money…..but I still think I was spending just as much as before, but just getting more items. Recently, my husband was hurt at work and our income was greatly reduced and we needed to stick to stricter budget…I recently started trying the cash method for our groceries (a big variable expense for us). So far it has helped me a lot. We used out credit cards for everything, but always pay the balance every month. I completely agree if you pay cash you are so much more aware of what you are spending.

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:18:17 +0000

Thank you for this post. I am also happy to see someone else that likes to “rob” money from one category to use in another. A few months ago we tried the Cash approach, but neither of us have very good discipline, so if the “fun money” ran out, we would take money from the food to go to the movies or shopping. I also agree that cash IS easier, because when its gone, there is no more spending. Unfortunately, when we ran out, we just switched to using the debit card, and overshot the budget.
Like Shannon, June 1st I have worked out a budget for us to use. I hope we can stay on task and stick to it.
Just one question.. What Categories do you keep in cash? I am thinking about an envelope for groceries, Entertainment, and clothes shopping. and I am on the fence about one for “pet care” i.e haircuts for the dog, dog food and dog biscuits.
again thanks so much!

By: Sara at Saving For Someday

Sara at Saving For Someday — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:08:45 +0000

Well put together post! I appreciate that you gave both sides of the story. I used to be a cash person then switched to being a credit card girl when I finally had ‘the good job’. I can vouch for the fact that I would spend more money when I used credit.

My grandma convinced me to go back to using the cash system, and helped me to make it simple so I wasn’t so concerned over all the categories. She’s 90 and has been using a cash system for 60+ years so she’s pretty good at it. The one thing my husband and I worked out was that certain categories could be debit card/credit card ones not only for better tracking but so I didn’t have to carry so much cash with me. That has helped b/c I know it’s still cash but I just use the card to pay for it.

Instead of paying cash, I still feel like I’m shopping with cash but at the end the cash looks different. Maybe something like that would help you?

Again, terrific post!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:29:43 +0000

Thank you for such a great post on this topic. I really am working hard at better money management and it’s good ot know I am not the only one who struggles. I also love your honest apraisal of each ‘system’. Starting June 1st. I have a ‘budget’ and hope to stick to it each and every month. I plan to do the cash system for some things, I will let you know how it goes.