5 ms·

I tried many high tech tracking apps but when I moved to Asia none of them worked with my bank. Now I have one bank account, zero credit cards. Every month I ta

I tried many high tech tracking apps but when I moved to Asia none of them worked with my bank. Now I have one bank account, zero credit cards. Every month I take out a fixed amount of money and put it in envelopes like a Grandpa would. I spend cash from the envelopes. Works like a charm!

version_five 5y ago
Yes! I used to do that and found it worked great. Calculated my desired monthly spend (outside of rent, etc that were fixed) and then divided by days on the month to get a daily number. For me it was something like $30 which included groceries and gas and entertainment and capex like clothes and stuff. I saved physical cash that was left over each day for the bigger things. It was a great and very visual / physical way of keeping track of money.
- iambateman 5y ago
  Nice! If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do now?
  - version_five 5y ago
    I make enough money that I don't worry about a budget
iambateman 5y ago
Thanks for this. If you don’t mind, what envelope setup do you use? Is it one envelope for “fun money” and another for “gotta have it money”?
- jameshush 5y ago
  Honestly, right now I just have one envelope for coffee/beer/random 7-11 purchases and one for utilities/rent I split with a few room mates. Next month I'm going to try to split it out because I'm budgeting for some gift giving (girlfriend's birthday and Chinese New Year stuff). For anything I don't have the cash for that I want to buy online, I wait two days before I buy anything over a certain amount just to make sure I _actually_ want it. I still keep my debit card in my wallet in case I'm in a pinch, but the act of using cash everywhere makes a _huge_ difference. E.g. last week I bought a round of cocktails for my friends because they came to the stand up comedy club I was performing at so I was in an extra giving mood. This morning I looked at my wallet, saw I didn't have much cash left, and that act of being mindful caused me to make a coffee at home this morning rather than go buy one. It also makes me appreciate every purchase. Because I built this habit of being mindful with spending while I was in the USA, I had a nice nest egg saved up from when I moved to Asia so I can pick and choose what projects and people I want to work with. Keeping everything simple in one account removed a lot of mental overhead of managing money. For any investments, I uninstalled all the stock tracking apps on my phone and only check investment performance on my laptop every few months. I use the extra mental energy to focus on work instead of trying to time the market to get better at my craft and deliver better value to my clients. Which gives me more money in the end anyways.
  - iambateman 5y ago
    This is so great, thanks. I’ve never used envelopes but I can see the appeal. Love the idea of waiting two days. In theory I should do the same thing with investments. It’s hard to avoid checking daily, even though I don’t trade very often. Thanks!
    - jameshush 5y ago
      Ya just uninstall them. So simple but makes a huge quality life difference. My hands are made of paper so I ended up getting a financial advisor too, that way I have to give someone a phone call in order to sell anything. Like I said, I treat my finances the same way an 85 year old grandma does and it's worked great for me.
oliv__ 5y ago
When I first moved to NYC and was on a tight budget, I'd do exactly that: withdraw $100 every week, put it in my pocket and use that money for all expenses. Physically touching your paper bills and feeling the stack grow smaller every time you pay for something is a sure remedy to overspending.

version_five 5y ago

Yes! I used to do that and found it worked great. Calculated my desired monthly spend (outside of rent, etc that were fixed) and then divided by days on the month to get a daily number. For me it was something like $30 which included groceries and gas and entertainment and capex like clothes and stuff. I saved physical cash that was left over each day for the bigger things. It was a great and very visual / physical way of keeping track of money.

iambateman 5y ago
Nice! If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do now?
- version_five 5y ago
  I make enough money that I don't worry about a budget

iambateman 5y ago

Thanks for this. If you don’t mind, what envelope setup do you use? Is it one envelope for “fun money” and another for “gotta have it money”?

jameshush 5y ago
Honestly, right now I just have one envelope for coffee/beer/random 7-11 purchases and one for utilities/rent I split with a few room mates. Next month I'm going to try to split it out because I'm budgeting for some gift giving (girlfriend's birthday and Chinese New Year stuff). For anything I don't have the cash for that I want to buy online, I wait two days before I buy anything over a certain amount just to make sure I _actually_ want it. I still keep my debit card in my wallet in case I'm in a pinch, but the act of using cash everywhere makes a _huge_ difference. E.g. last week I bought a round of cocktails for my friends because they came to the stand up comedy club I was performing at so I was in an extra giving mood. This morning I looked at my wallet, saw I didn't have much cash left, and that act of being mindful caused me to make a coffee at home this morning rather than go buy one. It also makes me appreciate every purchase. Because I built this habit of being mindful with spending while I was in the USA, I had a nice nest egg saved up from when I moved to Asia so I can pick and choose what projects and people I want to work with. Keeping everything simple in one account removed a lot of mental overhead of managing money. For any investments, I uninstalled all the stock tracking apps on my phone and only check investment performance on my laptop every few months. I use the extra mental energy to focus on work instead of trying to time the market to get better at my craft and deliver better value to my clients. Which gives me more money in the end anyways.
- iambateman 5y ago
  This is so great, thanks. I’ve never used envelopes but I can see the appeal. Love the idea of waiting two days. In theory I should do the same thing with investments. It’s hard to avoid checking daily, even though I don’t trade very often. Thanks!
  - jameshush 5y ago
    Ya just uninstall them. So simple but makes a huge quality life difference. My hands are made of paper so I ended up getting a financial advisor too, that way I have to give someone a phone call in order to sell anything. Like I said, I treat my finances the same way an 85 year old grandma does and it's worked great for me.

oliv__ 5y ago

When I first moved to NYC and was on a tight budget, I'd do exactly that: withdraw $100 every week, put it in my pocket and use that money for all expenses. Physically touching your paper bills and feeling the stack grow smaller every time you pay for something is a sure remedy to overspending.