Week 3 Wrap up

Anyone who's been reading along with this exciting journey of me attempting to pay off debts and change spending habits knows that I'm not a big fan of the cash envelope part of the Dave Ramsey system. I have however been pretty faithfully following the "spend cash" part of the plan since the beginning of last December and I've learned a few things already. It is easier to stick to budget with cash in hand, as opposed to using a debit card for purchases. The debit card and I have become enemies. We don't see eye to eye.

I've learned that when I run out of the week's cash I'm still going to make purchases (go over budget). BUT if I withdraw an additional amount of cash, say $10 and try to stick to that amount for the remainder of the week I'm much MUCH much less likely to go as far over budget. If I don't withdraw additional cash and just use the debit card for the "little" extras that we still need inevitably my budget will be blown sky high!

To put it plain and simply: It's just better to spend cash. I think I'm a cash envelope convert. Now I just have to remind myself of this and withdraw more when I run out. The debit card is off limits. No debit card! Debit card bad!

I ended up $18.72 over budget this week. Maybe I'm just in a funk but I'm feeling kind of happy that the overage is under $20, as opposed to being upset about going over. So far this year I've gone over budget 2 out of 3 weeks. I really need to do better than that!

Week Three's 34 Purchases (exact same amount as week one)
34. Subway $12.19
33. Cinnamon Roll $1.87
32. Coffee $1.06
31. Cereal $3
30. Grapefruit $2
29. Bread $1.50
28. Reeses 67 cents
27. Ground chicken $3.19
26. Spaghetti sauce $1.92
25. Noodles $1.34
24. Coffee $1.47
23. Thankyou cards $5.70
22. Coffee $1.06
21. Salad $4
20. Pizza $10
19. Coffee $1.47
18. Subs $13.77
17. PB cups 67 cents
16. Latte $3.76
15. String Cheese $3
14. Milk $5
13. Eggs 99 cents
12. An orange pepper $2
11. Carrots $1.50
10. Cucumber 67 cents
9. Romas 85 cents
8. Bananas $1.03
7. Detergent $12.29
6. Taco Bell (this is becoming a very bad habit) $3.25
5. Peanuts $3.49
4. Those darn Cadbury eggs $2.37
3. Stamps $9.50
2. Sandwich $2.12
1. Coffee $2.12