Celebration...

Just wanted to share with you guys how successful the envelopes system has been for us. We have started using the little leather wallet that has different envelopes for different expenses and (surprise) it works! For the past 3 weeks we have budgeted every single dollar from each of my paycheks and Jess's income and then we fund our envelopes based on our allocated budget. We have pretty much not strayed from this system with the exception of taking from one envelope and giving to another. We have also been able to feed ourselves (all six of us) on about $100 to $120 worth of groceries a week (we do set aside $50 for eating out and entertainment on the weekends). We had one set back this week, but I don't really consider it a set back. We had saved about $300 for our emergency fund when our vacuum burned out. It literally started smoking. For those of you who don't know, Jess does janitorial work on the side, so a good vacuum is a necessity for this business. We had to go out and purchase a $230 vacuum and dig into our emergency fund. While some might consider this a loss, I was excited that we had the CASH to pay for this unexpected expense. NO CREDIT NECESSARY! I will also be able to fully fund our emergency fund on the 16th of next month (we should get a bonus at the company I work for around then).

I am actually pretty excited in how we have made some life changes through all this so far. We have stopped eating out during the week (which both saves us money and saves my arteries), and we have been able to agree on our budget and stick to it. The Nerd (Jess) is excited because she gets to budget out our dollars and it is actually working this time, while the Free Spirit (Yours Truly) is excited because we get to put aside money for eating out and entertainment and we don't have to feel guilty about using it the way we want. We have not missed a bill payment or bounced a check through all of this and the envelope system has also given us a peace because we know the money is going to be there. There really are no surprises - at least in terms of whether the money will be there or not, because we know what we have left to spend for each category of expense.

I have a couple other things I'd like to share with you, but they will have to wait until this weekend. God bless and talk to you soon.

Chris