Warning: I thought the 'cash envelope' system was just for people who can't use a card

My friend in Austin kept telling me to try it for my grocery budget, so I put $400 cash in an envelope for the month. I was shocked when I had $60 left over on the 25th, something that never happened with my debit card. I think physically seeing the money go down made me skip a lot of small, extra trips. Has anyone else tried this and found it worked for a specific category?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade6181mo agoTop Commenter

What category did you find it worked best for? I do the same thing but only for my fun money and eating out. Swiping a card makes it feel fake, but handing over cash actually hurts. I had to switch to cash for those because I was blowing through my budget every single month without even noticing.

harperc791mo ago

Actually I switched back to cards for everything last year. The cash thing made me overspend more because once it was gone I'd just pull more out anyway. At least with the app I see every charge right away.

the_richard3d ago

Wait are you me? lol I had the exact same shock with my dining out budget. I put $150 cash in an envelope for restaurants and takeout and somehow stretched it to three weeks when I used to blow through $300 on my card in two weeks easy. Seeing that envelope get thinner every time I grabbed a burrito actually made me stop and think twice. It's wild how different the brain treats cash vs plastic even though it's the same money. I still use my card for bills and gas but cash is the only thing that saved my food budget lol