My dad's envelope method seemed silly until I tried it in 2019

Back in 2019, my dad handed me a stack of paper envelopes and told me to put cash in each one for groceries, gas, and fun money. I laughed at him, figured my debit card and a spreadsheet were way better for tracking. Then I overspent on takeout three weekends in a row and had to pull from my rent envelope to cover it. That was the wake-up call, so I gave his system a real shot for 4 months. Turns out, watching the cash physically disappear from the gas envelope made me drive slower and plan errands better. I still use a version of it today, just with separate bank accounts instead of envelopes. Has anyone else had an older relative suggest something that felt outdated but actually worked?

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shane_williams41mo ago

The envelope trick only works if you still feel the loss, separate accounts go too invisible for me.

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