The "Envelope System"

Before Aaron and I got married (almost a year ago!), we went through pre-marital counseling with Larry Brey from Elevation Church. Hands down, Aaron and I both agree that the 4 months we spent meeting with Larry before our wedding day was one of the best God-filled and informative processes we could have ever gone though to improve our relationship and prepare ourselves for marriage. I wish we could still meet with Larry twice a month!

One of the many valuable things we learned from Larry was how to budget our money. Aaron and I began our marriage by using the "envelope system" that works like this:

• Make a list of your income for an average month.
• Make a list of all your expenses for an average month (savings, tithes, mortgage, gas, groceries, entertainment, electricity, water & sewer, car insurance, etc...) and allot a certain amount of money for each expense.
• Buy a package of envelopes and label them with the different categories listed in your budget.
• Each time you get paid, cash your check and distribute it to the envelopes.

The envelope system is great because once the allotted amount of money for each envelope has been spent, that's it. It prevents you from spending more than the budgeted amount in categories such a groceries and entertainment but forces you to put a certain amount into savings.

Now, let me first say that the list above is a broad overview of how the system works. Make adjustments as you see fit. For example, Aaron and I pay most of our monthly bills online because it's more convenient for us. When we first got married, the categories I made envelopes for were: groceries, entertainment, savings, tithing, and spending money for both Aaron and myself.

In the past few months, I have slacked off on putting cash in the envelopes and have been using my debit card to pay for groceries, movies, and random other miscellaneous things. As a result, I've seen us stray a bit from our budget.

The "envelope system" has done a wonderful job of teaching us where we spend most of our money and in what areas we need to continue using cash (groceries and entertainment). I love to cook and bake (and also take care of all of the grocery shopping), so it's easy for me to go over our weekly budget for food and household supplies if I don't go into the store with cash. Having a cash budget for entertainment and groceries makes us plan and shop more effectively...and I like that. I love the challenge of stretching our money to make it go further each month.

Aaron and I consider it an honor to tithe and participate in the Dominate Campaign each week. We know that as long as we give God the first fruits of our income, He will bless the rest. God has truly blessed our finances throughout our first year of marriage and I have faith that He will continue to do so.

Even if you think you're doing great with your budget, you should give the envelope system a whirl. Declare two or three areas where you could improve on your spending habits, give yourself a certain amount of cash each week (or month), and see how you do. When you get the hang of it, see if you can lower the budgeted amount of money and still be comfortable :)

This afternoon, I'm going to buy groceries...with cash.