The Simple Way to Maintain Your Budget

The Simple Way to Maintain Your Budget
By Leslie Valeska

To check out the whole series click here.

In the last two years it has been noted that Americans use their debit and credit cards more than their checkbooks. In fact, their usage has more than doubled! This is great in some ways, but it can be a nightmare for the budget conscious. When I left the envelope system of budgeting, in lieu of my debit card, something amazing happened. My expenses went up. In short, it is so much easier to spend one or two dollars here and there when the actual paper cash isn’t coming out of your hand. It’s like we aren’t really spending that money or something.

However, you CAN have a debit card AND stay within your budget. Actually, you can do this for all your budgeting needs for the household. The best part, this is a simple process.

Use a separate bank account and debit card for all your household purchases. For the most ease, you and your husband might want to look into opening another account at your current bank of choice if you are pleased with their services and they offer no fee banking. You will likely have to place a minimum of $25-50 dollars in the account when you open it. This is a good thing, because it will enable you to use your entire budget without penalty. Confused? Read On.

One good reason for this set up is that your husband can transfer money weekly or monthly, in an amount that totals your family’s total budget for the month. When you go to the grocery you will know exactly how much you have to spend and not a penny more. A way to provide accountability for yourself is to agree that if you go over your budget by $2, then that amount will be deducted from the next month’s stipend. In this way, you will have not only an incentive to stay within your budget, but a method of discipline for your budgeting. One extra bonus with this method is that it is much simpler to track your household expenses.

The beauty of this process is that you will do nothing differently than you do now. You will simply have a separate account with which to do it.

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