Tried envelope budgeting vs apps for 3 months and one won

I swapped from YNAB to cash envelopes for my grocery and eating out categories back in July. The cash envelopes made me way more careful because I could actually see the money leaving. Has anyone else found that physical money works better than digital tracking for certain categories?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_william8d ago

Actually you're right about the visual thing but I gotta say one thing - you're not really supposed to pull out cash for EVERY category. The envelope system works best for the stuff you struggle with overspending on, not your fixed bills like rent or insurance. I tried doing it for my car payment once and just ended up forgetting to pay it on time because the cash was sitting in an envelope instead of getting auto-drafted. For me, keeping just the variable categories like groceries and eating out in cash makes the system click way better without messing up my automatic payments.

hayden5877d ago

oh man, that car payment thing sounds rough. did you catch yourself before it was too late or did you have to pay a late fee? i tried doing the full cash thing once too and honestly it just stressed me out having to remember which envelopes were for what. i still have a running list taped to my fridge for gas and groceries but i just let autopay handle everything else now. it feels like way less of a headache.