Sticking To The Budget

August 27, 2025

After dropping Shaela off at college, there were a lot of feelings to sift through. One feeling was pride. I was proud of her, of course, but I was also proud that, as a family, we paid cash for her first semester of school. We had decided to divide the tuition into thirds. I was very honest with Shaela—I couldn’t afford to pay for the whole thing or even half. My long-term goal is for us to continue paying in cash rather than taking on debt. The second-semester payment is due in mid-December, so I’ve already figured out how much I must save each month to make that payment. It seems much more manageable this way.

In addition to tuition, I have a few other goals. For each one, I determined how much money I needed and the time frame. Again, I figured out how much I would need to save each month. I put all of this into my budget and realized it would be a stretch. However, what I’m learning more and more is that I need to know my priorities. I need to know why these are my priorities.

For tuition, it was easy to identify the “why.” I don’t want Shaela to start adulthood with a big student loan—one that takes many people 15+ years to pay off! My other goals include paying off my car, medical bills, Hayden’s car, and building up my emergency fund. The “why” for all of these is basically the same: I want to live debt-free and have the financial freedom of not living paycheck to paycheck.

And yes, that sounds like a good enough “why,” but I wanted to dig deeper. Why do I want to be debt-free—especially when most people have debt? The answer is, I want to decide where my money is going. I don’t want to be forced to make minimum payments on things (which often take up over 50% of my budget). I want to retire when I choose. I want to give more. I want to live the life I want without constantly stressing about money.

So, having said all of that, my budget is tight—and I’m okay with that because I know I have goals to accomplish. This is temporary, not forever. My challenge this month is to be strict about my budget.

One way I do this is by using cash envelopes. I take out cash each month for my variable expenses like groceries, fun money, classroom needs, home, and health. If I need to pay with my card (for online shopping or when a place doesn’t take cash), I immediately take cash from that envelope so that I stay within budget. This method helps me stick to my budget each month. Sometimes I have money left over, and sometimes I don’t.

This month, because I’m a bit short, I may take from my “health” envelope and transfer it to my “food” envelope. I remind myself to stay flexible—this is much better than charging things on my credit card.

If you find yourself going over budget on groceries, fun, or other categories, try the cash envelope method. When you see exactly how much cash you have, it helps you pause and ask yourself: “Do I really need this? Does it fit within my budget?”