Comments on: What Is Envelope Budgeting?

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:35:16 +0000

I’ve used many different methods of managing my personal finances and agree that there are some great products out there. As a prior Quicken user for over 9 years, I have a tremendous respect for the program and everything it can do. But sometimes, less is more. The benefit of envelope budgeting, if it is used effectively, is that you can see exactly how much money you have in each account as well as in each “envelope” in your budget. The practical management side to using it effectively is having the discipline to contain spending within the envelope limits. As far as programs go, if you aren’t yet comfortable with managing your money totally online or don’t want to pay a monthly fee, you might want to try a new envelope budgeting program, CommonCents 2007. It can be downloaded from http://www.CommonCentsSoftware.com.

By: ocasiom

ocasiom — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:14:31 +0000

I have been using this little application for a little over 3 months now and it has worked fine for me:

http://www.snowmintcs.com/products/budgetwin/index.php

It is based on the budget system and keeps track of individual spending per envelope. It’s also only $30 (I don’t work for them or make any commissions, real user comment).

In response to Trent’s comment about his budget breaking because of unplanned (non-emergency) expenditures, I recommend allocating a “Cushion Envelope” each month to take care of those. With time you may see a pattern in your “unplanned” expenses by looking at the history of your Cushion Envelope and adjust your budget accordingly, maybe you’ll need to plan for a few extra envelopes

By: skadoo323

skadoo323 — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:05:42 +0000

Another idea I got from another forum was to have an ING Direct account with multiple savings accounts, such as one for my cell phone bill, one for my utility bill, etc. This seems like a decent method, plus you get interest while you set aside the needed funds.

By: MELANIE LAGO

MELANIE LAGO — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:50:07 +0000

I used to do envelope budgeting when I was newly married, with one baby and living off just one salary, while my husband was in med school. It worked for me and helped me manage our meager income. Ithink I should go back to it again.

By: Leah

Leah — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:58:28 +0000

Let me second the http://www.mvelopes.com recommendation.

It counters all the negatives you noted, leaving you with some of the easiest and most detailed expense tracking systems you’ll ever find.

I hated using quicken, MS Money, and other online based systems, because they required so much work on my part. But the Mvelopes system makes everything so painless and fast I was in love instantly.

Try their free trial and see if you don’t fall in love as well.

By: MoneyDummy

MoneyDummy — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:10:05 +0000

You could always track your spending by just putting your receipts into the envelope from which the cash came.

By: nelson

nelson — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:48:27 +0000

I thought I’d like the envelope budgeting system, but I didn’t for basically the same reasons why you don’t like it, Jim. I wanted to try the envelope budgeting because I was trying to save up for certain items over a few months and I wanted to see my progress. I wanted to put money in every month and have the balance roll over.

It ended up being more of a hassle than it was worth.

Now I just set up a “loose” budget and keep track of spending categories in Quicken. A monthly deposit of fun money goes into a separate savings account earmarked for a vacation or larger purchase (over $100). It’s kind of like an emergency fund for my wanderlust or gadgetlust.

Plus, mvelopes scares me. You have to give them your account info for ALL of your accounts. I’m sure they’re very careful with that information, it’s just not my bag.

By: DP

DP — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:33:50 +0000

This is what http://www.mvelopes.com does.
You can track your expenses in as detailed fashion as you want: just customize you envelopes in any hierarchy that you wish.
It’s also a good tool for tracking your net worth.

By: Trent

Trent — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:10:24 +0000

I’ve tried the envelope system, and for simple things it’s ok. But there always seemed to be circumstances that came up that required someone to flip out the CC to pay. (Music lesson payments that were forgotten, needed more gas for the car, unexpected school supplies needed). It was little things, but it disrupted the system for us so badly we dropped it in favor of a ‘general’ budget and pay off the card each month. It’s not perfect, but it fit our situation better.