Shoutout to the envelope method for groceries

I noticed I was blowing like $200 extra a month on food without really realizing it. So last month I tried pulling out $300 in cash for groceries every Monday and putting it in an envelope. When the cash was gone, that was it for the week. I ended up saving $80 the first week just by seeing the actual money leave my hand. It's dumb but that physical limit made way more sense to me than tracking on an app. Has anyone else tried this with other categories like gas or eating out?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew_baker94d ago

See the thing is, $300 for a whole week of groceries is actually a pretty generous budget for one person. For most people that would be plenty unless they are buying filet mignon every night or feeding a family of four. So running out by Wednesday might mean the cash amount is set too low more than it being a discipline problem. I did the envelope thing for gas and had to adjust my number twice before it fit right. Once I had the right amount it still helped me stop grabbing snacks at the pump just because I could see the cash getting thinner. Just make sure your envelope isn't set up for failure from the start.

michael8034d ago

Did you try any method for keeping track of your eating out budget specifically? I did something similar with dining out and it hit me HARD how fast $40 can disappear on a couple lunches. I started putting $50 cash in a separate envelope each week for fast food and restaurants. Once it was gone I had to cook at home or just skip. The first week I ran out by Wednesday and it SUCKED but I actually started meal prepping on Sundays after that. Now I usually have $10 left over by Friday. The envelope trick made me realize I was stopping for coffee and sandwiches out of HABIT not hunger.

martinez.paul4d ago

Hell yeah, I gotta disagree with you a bit here michael803. I think andrew_baker9 had a point about adjusting the number, but for me the real wakeup was exactly what you ran into - running out by Wednesday. That's not a failure, that's the whole point. The first week I tried eating out cash, I blew through $60 in two days because I was buying breakfast burritos and gas station sodas like it was nothing. Now I do $30 a week and I've got $5 left by Sunday sometimes. It made me see I was eating out just because I was bored or lazy, not hungry.