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September 2012 Moms
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S/O family budgets

melody921melody921 member
in September 2012 Moms
I hear a lot about the cash envelope system. For those of you who use this, do you think it works? DH and I do the complete opposite. We charge everything. In addition to getting credit card points that we can cash in for gift cards to places like Target that we'd be going to anyway, I feel like it makes it easy to sort what we spent and where. But, it's also easy to swipe a card, whereas if there's no cash, you can't spend it. So, tell me if I should consider changing our system.

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Re: S/O family budgets

  • alli84alli84 member
    I use a card everywhere for the rewards. I'm the type to pay it off immediately so I don't usually incur interest charges and such. I do use a cash method though for small "treat" type things, mainly coffee. That cost can really add up, so it gives me a limit.

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  • mrsbhk22mrsbhk22 member
    We use a card for pretty much everything. Food, gas, daycare auto pay bills like cell phone etc. then we use the hotel and airline points. In Nov, we are going to Puerto Rico for $20 (taxes on the airfare). Staying in a beautiful Hilton on the beach. All because of points. Last year. Our family of 4 spent 10 days in the FL keys. No hotel costs. Just used points

    I monitor our spending almost daily. If the balance stars rising, we stop using them. We pay it off each month to avoid hefty interest rates (crazy American Express). It takes a lot of self control. Once we get to a certain point, we shut the cards down. No restaurants and only basic groceries. Keeps is from blowing all the balance in the beginning.
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  • CheenomaeCheenomae member
    We use a card for everything, too. Then we basically use our points every year to pay for all the Christmas presents we purchase during the holidays. I imagine the cash/envelope method would certainly save us money, but I can't imagine how long I'd be dedicated without cheating.
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  • bonjourbelle05bonjourbelle05 member
    We do the envelopes for certain things...groceries, spending money, gas, etc....it works well because it forces us to budget because it's embarrassing to get to the check out and not have enough money. This is part of the Dave Ramsey system, which we have been doing for about a month.
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  • kelbel527kelbel527 member
    To me, the cash system is a way to limit/structure how you spend your money. If you are already good at managing your budget, and you get points on a credit card, I wouldn't do it. We get tons of points, save 5% at target and get 30% off at kohls. I'm not switching to cash anytime soon. :)

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  • melody921melody921 member
    mrsbhk22 said:
    We use a card for pretty much everything. Food, gas, daycare auto pay bills like cell phone etc. then we use the hotel and airline points. In Nov, we are going to Puerto Rico for $20 (taxes on the airfare). Staying in a beautiful Hilton on the beach. All because of points. Last year. Our family of 4 spent 10 days in the FL keys. No hotel costs. Just used points I monitor our spending almost daily. If the balance stars rising, we stop using them. We pay it off each month to avoid hefty interest rates (crazy American Express). It takes a lot of self control. Once we get to a certain point, we shut the cards down. No restaurants and only basic groceries. Keeps is from blowing all the balance in the beginning.
    This sounds similar to us. We have never not paid the entire bill every month. And I try to keep an eye on if we're over-spending, but sometimes I wonder if I swipe the card more just bc I can.

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