Do You Use A Checking Account Buffer?

Ah, the good old question of whether to keep a little bit of money tucked away into the main checking account. This seems to come up quite often with people just starting out making their budgets and starting to tell their money what to do. I thought it would be a great time to dive in and explain what a checking account buffer is, advantages and disadvantages to having it, and finally, what my family do in regards to this ourselves. If you have never created a budget yourself or need help, please check out this great guide I’ve put […]

Emergency Fund 101: Why You Need One

We all know that we should have some savings on hand in order to give ourselves margin and put a gap between us and our problems. The bigger our emergency fund, the better prepared we are if something is to happen that is not budgeted for and can’t wait to be put into the budget. Emergencies include, but are not limited to: Furnace going out in the dead of winter Having to fix your car because something went wrong like the transmission went out The roof starts leaking Emergency visit to the hospital These are things that happen, but we […]

How To Use The Envelope System With Direct Deposit

Today, I wanted to tackle a question that I found on Facebook:  I have direct deposit with my paycheck. How do you recommend doing the envelope system after my paycheck has already been deposited? By having direct deposit, you are already making your life easier. You are having your money deposited into your account, many times sooner than expected in my experience, and don’t usually have any wait time to access your funds. That is very nice news! As far as doing the envelope system after it’s already been deposited, all you have to do is make a nice little […]