Friday, December 12, 2014

Finance Friday

I would like to talk about the envelope system by Dave Ramsey today.   My oldest has to have a palate expander and then braces.  We met with the orthodontist last year and found all of this out.   They gave me a rough estimate in what it all would cost.   We started our orthodontist envelope.   This is not an emergency so we will not use emergency money.   I planned for this so, this will have no effect on our budget.  It has been included in our budget for a year now in a very small amount.  We have terrible dental insurance so the bulk will come from us.  I have no fear of this  because I planned and used the envelope system.  You could also use a health savings account in the same way.  
This is the same way we do our Christmas money.   We save all year a little at a time so Christmas does not break our budget.  What a feeling that is, to not feel guilty about spending money on your loved ones.   Like Dave says, Christmas is not an emergency.   There is no reason to max out in credit card debt. We know it is coming and planning will help.  I encourage you to check out Dave's envelope philosophy.   Google it and see what other people say about it.  Pick one thing in your budget and try it with the cash envelop system.   I would suggest something simple like eating out, groceries,  or coffee money if you drink a lot of  Starbucks ( $4 bucks) coffee.   I am not judging if you like their coffee, I like it too but I only get it every now and then.    The envelope system has been around for a very long time, Dave just brought it back to the mainstream.   Dave showed an envelope system he found at an estate sale dated in the early 1900's.  I thought that was very cool.

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