<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > The Switch to Cash

The Switch to Cash

March 30th, 2011 at 02:55 pm

So, Hubby and I have finally decided to switch to spending using only cash, instead of our debit cards. We will start this when I get my first paycheck on April 9th. I'm very excited, mostly nervous though. I hope we can handle it.

I think, though, that it'll be better for budgeting purposes. I have lots of questions though. Do you keep replenishing the cash regardless of how much is left at the end of the week? Or do you only replenish it to the amount it was assigned every week?

Posted in Budgeting | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “The Switch to Cash”

  1. just a thought Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 03:16 pm 1301498200
    1301498200

    I replenish every week, even if there is money left over. I treat the budgeted amounts as the "average" spending in a week. Some weeks I will spend more, and some I will spend less, and that's where the money carries over. This is especially true for the clothing/gifts category. I don't buy clothing every week, but the money accumulates week after week, and then when I need new running shoes, or something like that, there is money available to spend. Hope that makes sense!

    (It's also nice to see the money build up -- although sometimes if it gets really high, I will take some of it and deposit it into savings.)

  2. LittleMsMom Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 03:19 pm 1301498390
    1301498390

    My first question is what cash envelopes are you planning on having? Food, Household, gas, clothes, entertainment, etc etc?

    Many people do different things with the left over money. What you do with the leftover will depend on the category.

    If it is food you might want to have second envelope at home with the leftovers from the weeks before so you can use if you find a stockpile opportunity.

    Gas the leftover might go right to savings or debt snowball and the end of the week or month depending on if your gas usage varies.

    Entertainment or Clothing might be one of those where you only put it into the budget when you know it is coming up. (Holiday time, and or it is getting close to time to replace a coat etc.)

    Good Luck

  3. ShellyBFree Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 04:01 pm 1301500908
    1301500908

    We do cash envelopes. Usually if there's some left we "piddle" it away...on ice cream or something. And we are ok with that. We have envelopes for food, gas, clothing&gifts, entertainment and other (which includes bball tourney entry fees, etc). It's worked out well for us since the beginning of the year.

    Good luck!

  4. North Georgia Gal Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 05:16 pm 1301505383
    1301505383

    If I have money left in the gas envelope at the end of the week I put it into the car maintenence fund. If I have grocery money left, I put it in the household maintenance fund.

  5. rachel021406 Says:
    March 30th, 2011 at 07:39 pm 1301513995
    1301513995

    April will be my full commitment to cash. I am working my way there now. I do "jars" instead of envelopes. It just keeps me from having the cash with me all the time. I replenish every week, whatever my budgeted amount is. Sometimes I have to take leftover cash and move it to a different jar, but its nice to have a little left each week.

    I used Gail Vaz Oxlades Budget sheet to determine how much I should be putting in each jar. And I'm trying to stick as close to that as I can.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]