The concept is good. It is suppose to help you have a budget and stick with it. Supposedly, you find it more painful to spend the cash than if you use your debit card so you are less likely to be impulsive.
I am just the opposite. I am more likely to spend cash than I am to use my debit card. I know. Freak of nature. I don’t fit the mold.
I also find it much easier to track my spending when I use the debit card. If I need Matt to stop and pick up a few things on the way home from work, I can keep track of it in the budget. Or if he needs to buy something for a project, I don’t have to worry about making sure he has cash.
Cash or debit? Which do you prefer? Click To TweetThe one thing I can agree with about a cash envelope system is the budgeting aspect of it. For me, I have separate lines for different things in my Excel spreadsheet for our budget. I am still tracking every penny, just electronically instead of in an envelope.
While I am not anti-cash envelopes, they just don’t work for us.
I am the exact same way! If I have cash, I’ll spend it and feel better about spending the cash over using my debit card. We can be freaks together! 😉
Oh good! There is someone else out there like me. 🙂
We use the cash envelope system, and it works great for us. I’m glad you found what works for you! I think that’s really what it’s all about anyway…Doesn’t matter too much the system, just so long as you are keeping yourself accountable to your budget! 🙂 Thanks for sharing – It’s interesting to see how others operate!
Any budget you stick with is a good method of budgeting. I guess you could say we have an envelope system…just with an Excel document instead of actual cash. Seriously, cash just runs through our fingers like water. It’s crazy. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Julie, I am the same as you. I can not see how all that lovely cash disappears and ends up as a whole wad of receipts. And because we get paid every fortnight and I split our monthly bills in two I sometimes have an advantage of a half month payment to put into another column that has drifted into the red. Excel rules along with automatic transfers so the bills money disappears into its account before I spend it on groceries.
I’m so glad to hear that there are so many of us “I spend cash” people out there. I’m not alone! 😉
A good post! It is good to be able to see the principle and not get tied up with the practice. Thanks for sharing your thinking processes. I’m teaching my kids to use a cash journal (and they are transitioning to a software package) so it doesn’t matter if they are spending cash from their wallet or cash on their card – they know how much they have at their disposal.
I love how you are teaching your kids the principals of budgeting already. 🙂
We keep 20.00 emergency on hand and then use card wherever we can, so we can track our spending. It works out great for us, and for me personally I am with you, that I tend to spend cash quicker than I do a card, because we aren’t as good with keeping up with tracking paper receipts. But I know people that prefer cash. So however, we can be a good steward I am for that.
Absolutely. As long as some one has a budget system that works for them and they use it, doesn’t matter if it is cash or not. I just can’t do cash. Sounds like you are like me that way. 🙂
We always use our credit cards (we earn $$ by using them and pay them off each month). Its just easier for us to keep track of our expense that way.
We’re anti-credit cards for us as we are working hard to get out and stay out of debt. But the earning rewards aspect always intrigues me. If that’s what works for you, great! There is no one size fits all for budgets, that’s for sure. 🙂
That is a great point. It may not work for some. I tend to spend more with a debit than paying cash so I am the other way . How ever my son who is now 20 is like you and spends less using his card and monitors it using things like MINT etc to track his spending habbits! I am so happy to of found your blog today at The Art Of Homemaking Party! Now following!
There’s definitely a psychological difference when paying with cash versus cards. But I prefer the tracking that I can do with a card, and that’s what I use most. You present the case for plastic very well. 🙂
Here from Inspire Me Monday.
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Melinda recently posted…Dratted Dishes
I can definitely see how a cash envelope system works very well for some, Like you, however, we don’t use one.
I use Quicken to track my spending so it is much easier to keep track of every penny by charging all of our purchases. We use credit cards (I wrote a post about how and why if you’re interested) for the rewards. Because we don’t think of it like a credit card, we don’t get into trouble. We treat our credit cards like they are cash so we never pay fees, interest, or late charges, but we get cash back. If you are fiscally responsible, this works well for many.
Thanks for sharing your system with us!
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup recently posted…19 Ways to Cut Back an Already Bare Bones Grocery Budget
I don’t use the cash system either. My main reason is because I don’t like to have cash around the house. It is more easily lost or stolen. I don’t even see my paychecks. I use direct deposit.
We don’t have an option. My husband’s company only does direct deposit.
I have no problem sticking to a budget…my husband spends too much with a debit card though 🙁
I’ve never tried cash with my husband so not sure how he’d do. I’m so the one that spends cash too fast. He doesn’t tend to spend money in a week besides gas for his car anyway.