Our Journey Into Envelope-dom.

We have entered the world of envelope-spending. We've read the books. We've done the classes. I've done the spreadsheets. I've even made my own spreadsheets!! I did PearBudget for several months, but just didn't like it. Nothing was working. I read Money Saving Mom constantly, and so many of her reader testimonials are how using the envelope system worked for them. My own mother used the envelope system. But, Mr. Dave's system seemed so...all-consuming.

I want to be out of debt. I want to save more than the once a month auto-savings we have now. I want to feel secure in an insecure world. Is that too wishful?

Apparently not, because people write in all the time to MSM about how they are saving and thriving. Not all of them. Some of them are weird. They take the "live like no one else" mantra to an extreme I'm just not willing to conform. BUT, that's no reason not to trust a system that seems to work.

I did a lot of budget-minded soul searching and realized I'd been refusing to adopt a budgeting system that will probably work for our family just because people take it to an extreme that makes me sad. I don't want to not live because "it's not in my budget." You wouldn't believe the stuff I've read; the things I've personally seen! I didn't want to be lumped into that group. I didn't want to live a lifestyle that made Aiden rebel when he grew up. These parents are so immovable in their budgets that I fear their children will be frivolous when they are older because they weren't allowed to be as children (*I'm not saying we should all throw caution to the wind and spend all our money on things we don't need, but I do think a parent should buy their child a treat once in a while and not make them feel bad because they are hindering the paying off of debt).

I have no basis for this, just fyi. Even though my mom did DR, she still had frivolous moments. Although, she may have had a "frivolous" envelope... 

We're keeping our envelopes very simple. I'm keeping our bill-money in the bank, since most of those are auto-pay, anyway. We have 'food,' 'meat (monthly Sam's run),' and 'misc.'

I'm hopeful this will work. In all the research I did on budgeting, the envelope system just kept coming up. I just want it to be a tool, not a slave-driver.