Nostra, oft posted or not, that is the epic post of the day.
Seattle, there’s no book for this but it’s a somewhat popular short term method to allow people to realize where their money goes. You only have to do it for a couple of months, it will wake you up and it can be fun.
Step one, lock all credit cards and the checkbook in the safe, no exceptions. (If you dont have a safe buy one with your credit card, just kidding). You must also suspend all auto pay things. Everything must be paid with cash, money order or cashiers check.
Step two, on payday, cash your paycheck or withdraw the amount of money that was direct deposited.
Step three, sit at the table, with the money and the bills, use piles, envelopes, a file folder, whatever and divide up the money to cover the various bills, giving each bill a little more than it needs or will need since they may not be determined. Allocate cash for food each week, gas each week, entertainment, clothing, and set aside a portion for annual bills like car insurance or registration.
Step four- agree to a set amount of savings for different things, one that is an account at the bank and one for vacations or large expeditures like furniture or home improvements.
Step five- agree ahead of time what to do with overages, for example, if there is a $50 savings on that months electric bill, each person gets $25 extra in pocket money or lunch money. If the food bill has savings, that goes to eating out budget for the following week, if the fuel bill is lower, it goes to vacations, and so on.
At the end of a few months, you get to see what things cost in nominal terms, you get to eat for lunch what you saved by turning off the lights, you decide what to forgo in order to get what you really want and going to hawaii or buying new couches suddenly seems stupid and will ruin your ability to eat out for lunch for the next six months. It gives you perspective because it is all real money, checks and credit cards dont feel real, they are like casino chips.
I’m sure there is abook that will tell you what to do but the concept is the same, i like to consider it “financial tent camping.” Every time I go tent camping I come home with a new appreciation for my dishwasher.
