One of the greatest ways to stay on track is through the envelope system. Once you become successful with it, you will find that you don’t need another job or work overtime each day. Here’s how to do it.
1. Begin with 31 envelopes. You don’t need to buy new envelopes; you can use the ones stored in your attic. Mark the envelopes with numbers, from 1 to 31. Each envelope will correspond to each day of the month.
2. Prepare a schedule of your monthly expenses. If you are using a structured monthly budget, it would be a great resource in your scheduling. Using the calendar, assign the amount of money you would use to go through each day of the month. For instance, if your telephone bills fall due every fifth of the month, place on day 5 the amount allotted for telephone bills. Do this for the other family expenses, as well.
3. On payday, insert into the envelopes the needed amount until the next pay day. The pay check every thirtieth (or thirty-first) would cover day one through fifteen while the pay check every fifteenth would cover day sixteen through day thirty (or thirty-first).
4. Use only what is inside the envelope. Each excess money inside the envelope at the end of the day can either be placed into the emergency fund, be used as carry over for the next day, or be used to defray expenses not included in the budget.
The envelope system is one great way to prove that you don’t need to be buried in piling debts and bills. Discipline can go a long way. After all, living according to your means is not impossible with the envelope system.