first off, thank you so much for all of your comments a couple of weeks ago regarding budgeting. after a lot of talking, we decided to give the envelope system a try, or at least a modified version of it. its modified in the sense that, we are only doing it in areas that we tend to overspend. some people do it for everything ranging from hair cuts to gas. for me, both of those are things that are necessary. i'm not going to go get an extra hair cut and i'm not going to drive around in my car for the heck of it. if i need a haircut, i get one. if i need gas, i buy it. i've got to get to work somehow :)
so we took a look at where we spend our money, using mint.com, and realized that the majority of our extra money after bills, savings, and retirement is spent on food. we go out to eat for dinner a couple of times a week and separately, we would grab a couple of breakfasts and lunches each week. we decided to set an amount that each of us could spend on food seperately, and then an amount for us to spend on meals together. we also created an envelope for groceries, which i will purchase every two weeks, and one for entertainment, which we rarely have done since the bambino came along. most of our entertainment involves going out to eat with friends.
{similar to these but i was too lazy to take pictures and upload them :}
a lot of people commented saying they use mint.com as their "electronic" envelope system. while this might work for some, i am afraid it wouldn't work as well for us. most people argue that the envelope system works so well because it discourages you from spending money. its the idea that forking over a $20 bill is harder to do than simpley swiping your credit card. think about it. isn't it so much harder to hand over cash than it is to hand over a piece of plastic? it is for me at least.
we are starting this june 1st so i will definitely keep you updated on how it goes. i have a feeling that if we stick to it, it will greatly decrease the amount of money that we spend on eating out.
love,
1 comment:
I remember you saying that when you first started breastfeeding your supply was low. I'm having the same problem right now. Georgia eats 3 oz at each feeding and I only produce about 2-2.5 oz (I pump now so I can measure how much she eats) Were you ever able to increase your supply? If so, what worked for you?
Post a Comment