Debt $ense

Aside from an odd look from the bank teller yesterday morning, the $5 bills and pocket box budgeting is going well. I tweaked my initial ratios among the categories and that seems to be helping.

Not only that, but when I pulled it out to get money at the coffee shop while talking to a job candidate today, she asked about it. When I (briefly) explained, she thought it was a cool idea.

For those who didn’t come here from my personal blog, a brief explanation is probably in order:

A few weeks back, I decided to try a new way of handling my money so less of it “disappeared,” as cash has a tendency to do. I get my $100 for two weeks out in $5 bills, and divide them up into six categories: food, vacation, savings, fund, crafts and household. Food gets half the money, and then I divide up the rest. To keep it organized, I spent $1.39 on an index card holder from Target with six section. The bills are the perfect length to fit in and the “box” is only about 1 1/2 inches thick, so it fits in my purse fine.

In case you’re confused, the savings pocket isn’t for my weekly transfers from checking, but a place to stash “extra” money so I can collect it and put it toward an extra CC payment each month. It also holds checks waiting for deposit and deposit slips so I always have those handy.

Now that everybody knows what my “pocket” system is, here’s the rest of the update.

I’m not always keeping my spending exactly from the pockets it’s supposed to come from, but the categories are making me think a lot more about not only what I spend my money on, but also if I even should spend it. This is especially true in the food category because eating out has to come from there and makes me realize what a big impact that has on my cash flow. ($100 for two weeks, not including gas, has to stretch pretty far.)

Purely from making me think and consider my spending, it’s a success. It’s also making it much easier to save smaller amounts from my weekly money, which I hope will translate into paying my credit card off faster. It also has made me think about where money for things like running sneakers will come from, so I’ve started envelopes at home to stash money into from its category so that’s “off-limits” when I’m in a store.