Kitchen Coins and Envelope Balances
We've had an old fashioned coin jar on our dresser for years. Not really designated to any particular spending its contents have helped with Christmas, vacations or simply a fistful of fun on an afternoon when the ice cream truck can be heard coming down the street. (yes, we really do have an ice cream truck ;)
It's time to designate the coins. We're crowning them Christmas Cash. Not sure how much may be in there already, but I'm thinking, $175-$200. There's also a kitchen coin can to catch found coins quick-from the washer, couches, purses and pockets. The kitchen can is conviently on the counter (I think I will decorate it today), this kitchen can is dumped into the coin jar once a week when the envelopes replenish on Wednesdays (Done for the first time this past Wednesday :) and it felt Great!
Since this was a brand new No Spend Month Challenge for us it's still a work in progress. Kitchen Coins and Christmas Coin Cash are welcomed additions. The coins were always there but never designated a job. It feels wonderful to give them a goal. October will continue as a No Spend Challenge. We're half way to our $1,000 emergency fund. J
This is a great idea! Our leftover cash will usually get used for stuff we need, or better yet, I shove it in my emergency fund. I've cut our budget to the bare minimum this month in order to bump up my emergency fund, so there hasn't been much "leftover" at all. I'm thinking of trying your "daily envelope" budget in October, instead of filling my jars for the week.
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Carla, Thanks! We've been paying our bills (some unexpected ones have set me back with the surplus towards the 1,000)- then we take the $105, put it in the envelopes and ration it Wed to Wed. We've been looking at the checkbook as a holding tank (not to be touched), with the balance going into the fund when payday rolls around again. The first 2 weeks were an adjustment, but I think it's getting better now. We're going to try it again next month. (However, we have a trip planned so not sure how I'm factoring all of that in yet. :/
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