Have you ever stashed away money for
a rainy day? What did you use it on? Was it really raining? Did you ever add
money to it so you could secretly start saving up for something special? Were
you able to do it?
These questions may sound silly, but
I have to tell you, first hand, that I once had a secret stash spot in my
kitchen which provided me with quite a bit of "extra" purchases when
I was first starting out on my own. Moving into my first apartment was a great
feeling. I was only able to afford beach chairs for living room furniture and
accepted hand me down kitchenware, I thought I was living big. I held two jobs,
had a car payment and was living on my own. What more would a 22 year love to
have? Lots!
I didn't grow up in an area where
there were cash advance stores around every corner, and online options... well,
they weren't in existence yet. I lived in the time of the envelopes in a shoe
box system. It was quite a complex system on its own; multiple envelopes, all
labeled with paperclips readily available. We didn't have debit cards back
then, I did have two credit cards, and then there was all the other typical
living expenses added into the mix. I handled it well. Each envelope had a
fixed amount marked clearly with a black permanent marker and every time I
added a receipt into the envelope and subtracted the amount. I even highlighted
the remaining balance so there would be no confusion.
In this system, I kept my finances
nailed down to the penny. I even had a separate envelope for "outings with
friends". I guess it is recorded more simply now as
"entertainment", whatever your category's name, the concept is still
the same - don't go over your limit.
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