Yes, we are just one more family that has joined the ever growing number of envelope system households. (click on the bold words to link to Dave Ramsey's website, if you are interested in reading further.)We have listened to Dave Ramsey over the years and we have taken many of his financial principles to heart. But this envelope thing just didn't seem like it would work for us. For one, we never use cash. Everything is automatically deposited, automatically withdrawn for bills, etc... So the idea of physically going to the bank to withdraw cash to then put into envelopes and carry around was just a bit more effort than we were wanting to put in.
But after 11 years of marriage and 11 years of "discussions" about what our money was being used for we've decided to give this a try.
And as much as I hate to admit it, it has really taken so much stress off of me throughout the week. I love knowing exactly what money I have to spend on groceries, eating out, clothes, the kids, sewing supplies, etc...
And, I don't have the guilt of pulling out the debit card to buy something not knowing if it is really in the budget for the month. Since starting this, Mike and I have yet to have any of those annoying "discussions" over money issues. This whole things seems to just flow well for us.
I hope we can keep it up. Like I said, the worst part is taking the time to go to the bank every paycheck and get the cash. But given the effecivness of it thus far, that is but a small sacrafice of time.