Someone asked if I would share why we use such a system. This post is an answer to that. :) When I was pregnant with Owen, we decided to take Financial Peace University at our church. I cannot say enough good things about Dave Ramsey’s class. Seriously, if you want to get your finances under control, take this class (WITH your spouse if you have one) and do the homework! Ok, enough of a plug. We wanted to get a better handle on our budget and where our money was going. We followed the principles closely, but only used envelopes for a few areas and just tracked things in our excel document. But this last year, we really needed to overhaul our budget and get our spending back on track. There had been too much swiping the card even though it might not have “been in the budget.” So here’s what we did:
- Budget each paycheck. We sat down and had several “family meetings.” Yes, they were painful. But very necessary. We budgeted every penny that was coming into the house.
- Decide on your categories and amounts. Since we had been keeping track of most things in excel, we had a general idea of what we were spending in most areas. We decided which things would be paid via automatic payments. We also decided to keep using our debit card for gas, since I didn’t want to have to run into the building with kids to pay. Everything else was turned into a envelope category. (Ours are currently: babysitting, adult clothing, emergency, Emily spending, gifts, going out, groceries/toiletries, hair cuts, home, kids clothing, kids expenses, postage, William spending).
- Fill Them Up! After you've decided all your categories and get a paycheck, fill each envelope with the money allotted for it in your budget. Since William gets paid twice a month, we also decided how much would go in at each paycheck. For a few of our categories, all the money goes in at the beginning of the month (spending), but some other categories, we put half in each time (groceries).
- When it's gone, it's gone. Now you can spend your money. :) The one thing that I really love about a budget is that I don’t feel guilty about spending the money. Before the cash system, I was never really sure when I swiped if we had the money for said item. But now, if I want to buy a cute dress for Ellie and the money is there, I can get it and not feel bad. Same with my crafting supplies or some new fancy frozen Greek yogurt. But when the money is gone, it’s gone. No going to the ATM or pulling money from a different envelope.
- Give it time. We’re still tweaking this as we go each month. Getting the money right for each category will take a couple of months of trial and error. But we’ve already started to see extra money in our bank account each month! Yay! We can now put that money towards something we are saving up for, like our future fence or basement finishing!
I cried the whole way out of the store, cried putting my groceries in the car, cried driving home, and cried telling the story to William. We have had times in our life when we were on her side of things. But now I am humbled and grateful that I was the receiving end. God cared about the little things I had wanted to get. I’ve just prayed God would abundantly bless that sweet lady for doing what she did yesterday. I also pray my humbled spirit will remember this long after I'm (someday) done being on this side of needing the help.
Step 2: trim around to get rid of the excess paper.
Step 3: These next couple steps are optional as you don’t have to cover your envelopes in contact paper. But I really didn’t want to be making envelopes every month, so I figured this would help them be a bit more durable. So, cut out two pieces of contact paper, one for each side of your flat envelope.
Step 4: probably the hardest step for a perfectionist like me. I found after a lot of trial and error that the contact paper went on with fewer bumps if I laid the paper on a flat surface. Then, I pressed the contact paper to one end of the envelope and slowly rolled it forward, pressing as I went. Does that make sense?
Do this to both sides, so your paper is sandwiched in between.
Step 5: cut out around the outside of the envelope shape. Here were a few of mine after cutting.
Step 6: with an exacto knife or some other sharp blade, score along the dotted line. This will make the envelope easier to fold. No, I’m not left handed, but was having trouble getting a picture any other way.
Step 7: fold along the scores
Step 8: There are many ways you could get these envelopes to stay together. I pretty much have my hot glue gun plugged in all the time, so that’s what I chose to use. I just spread some on, not quite all the way to the top.
Fold the large flap up and press firmly to smooth out. If you take too long, the hot glue will make the envelope bumpy, so try to move quickly.
Repeat with the other side.
Step 9: I bought a pack of sticky velcro dots. Apply one side of the sticker to the middle top of the envelope flap.
Then, put the other velcro side down on top. Make sure the sticky side it out!
Then close your envelope.
And your velcro will match up perfectly.
And you’re done! Repeat as many times as how many envelopes you need. Here are all mine before I labeled them.
And here they are all nice and labeled. I just used a pack of printable 
They fit dollar bills perfectly!
I also made a little record sheet that goes in each envelope so I can track just like in my checkbook. Does anyone even use a checkbook anymore? Haha.
Ohh, aren’t they all so pretty in their box? They’re so cute they {almost} make me thankful to be on a cash system.
Happy budgeting!
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