Skip to main content

envelope budgeting

i've always had a hard time saving up for the rainy days. i'm always stuck in the part where i have no idea where the money is going to. and believe me, i hate that part. so i scoured the net to look for ways how to solve this eff-ing problem and googled(i wonder if this verb is already an entry in the dictionary) budgeting. then i thought, why don't i just check its wikipedia entry. unfortunately, all information inside that entry were on a macro-scale of the word itself. and fortunately, except the "see also" part. there lies the phrase envelope system.

although there's just a small info about it, the description how the system works gives enough overview on how it works basically: enough to make me save.
"Typically, the person will write the name and average cost per month of a bill on the front of an envelope. Then, either once a month or when the person gets paid, he or she will put the amount for that bill in cash on the envelope. When the bill is due, the money is taken out to pay for that bill. 
This prevents the person from spending the money out of their pocket or bank account, because it is already allocated to the bill."
But why stop there? the basics will make one save. but knowing the entirety will make wonders. a little more on that matter, later.

Popular

Contextual Stratification - Chapter 21: No Theory of Everything

  The Most Seductive Dream There is a dream that haunts physics, philosophy, and the human imagination itself: one equation. One framework. One truth that explains everything. Einstein spent the last decades of his life searching for it, a unified field theory that would reconcile gravity with electromagnetism, that would show all forces as manifestations of a single underlying reality. He failed, but the dream didn't die. String theory arose promising eleven dimensions and one fundamental entity, vibrating strings from which all particles and forces emerge. Loop quantum gravity offered another path. M-theory suggested a framework encompassing all frameworks. The quest continues. Physicists still seek the Theory of Everything (TOE) the final equation that would subsume quantum mechanics and relativity, explain all particles and forces, predict all phenomena. The dream is powerful because it promises ultimate understanding. No more mysteries. No more competing frameworks. No more b...

budgeting 101

to dig deep into envelope budgeting, i must simplify the term first. hence, i need to make sure i understand the word budgeting... budget. A budget (from old French bougette , purse) is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending -  wikipedia so, basing from the definition, it can be simplified as... (income - expense = 0) where income is defined(in my own words) as any monetary device labeled with currency which was received and/or is available to be consumed by the calculated expenses. while expense is a calculation of how the income will be used. some might ask where saving lies in the formula. since, i believe that it is one of the elements of expenses, let me extend the formula to: [income - (saving +other expenses) = 0] i still have doubts on this calculations, though. so, any comments and suggestions are encouraged for a healthy discussion.

Contextual Stratification - Chapter 16: Human Psychology

  The Divided Self Physics stratifies cleanly—quantum here, classical there, clear boundaries. Consciousness stratifies across perspective—neural observable from outside, experiential accessible from inside. But human psychology stratifies within a single person, within a single moment, creating something we all experience but rarely understand: internal conflict . You know you should exercise, but you don't feel like it. You want dessert, even though you're trying to eat healthily. You believe honesty is important, yet you find yourself lying. You're drawn to someone you know is wrong for you. You procrastinate on important work while doing trivial tasks. You hold contradictory beliefs, pursue incompatible goals, feel pulled in opposite directions. Standard psychology treats this as a problem to solve. Cognitive dissonance theory says we're motivated to eliminate contradictions. Rational choice theory says we should maximize consistent utility. Self-control research fr...