Linux apps like Quicken are badly needed 3377

5 years ago I started using envelopes. Not for everything, but for the things that cash can be used to pay. I used to have several categories. My wife and I decided to sit down and iron out what we thought they needed to be and how much we thought was needed for each one. The beginning of every month for 6 months, we talked it over. After that it went on autopilot, except we'd discuss it again if something unusual happened or once every year.

The first year we put aside $2000 extra. The second it was $3000. Some new expenses have been added to the list (Sinister Jr's private schooling, Mrs. Midget's return to school to finish her degree), a few have been dropped and some others have been increased as far as how much goes in them. We're still saving $3000 extra annually that otherwise would have been wasted. It would be much more if not for the schooling. (We were setting aside about $1500 a year prior to this, with just my income, and money going into a retirement from my current job separate from that.)

We don't want for anything. Nothing is behind. Credit is paid off monthly if used (itself a rarity).

I'd heard of such things before, but I never knew the details. A guy was on one of the radio stations named Dave Ramsey ("We give the same advice your grandmother used to. But we keep our teeth in.") that mentioned it and decided to give it a try.

It's amazing what a person can find out they're wasting if they really want to find out.

I had people working for me a few years ago (a couple of years apart from each other) that were wondering what was happening to all of their money. I told both of them to take a notepad and write down everything they spent for a month. I told them I knew it wouldn't be possible to get every little penny or dime, but to try to do as much as they could. That included fast food, junk from machines, crap from gas stations, quick stops in stores, groceries, everything. After that they could buttess whether there was anywhere they could make changes that would be of benefit.

One of them quit trying to find out in a week or two. The other one started saving money the following month.

-- A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. Windows is for work stations.