Fearless Money

One of the parts of our family budget which has been working the best for my wife and me is our gift budget. It is a simple scheme, every month we put $50 each into 2 manilla envelopes in the house safe. “Dustin Gift Money” and “Bruce Gift Money”.

I don’t peek in her envelope, and she doesn’t peek in mine. The money just accumulates in there, and it doesn’t need to be tracked anywhere else. No notes are kept, and the money is just a straight debit in the budget each month. If we buy something online as a gift, we take money from the envelope and put it in the petty cash envelope for later deposit back into the bank.

As I said, it is a simple scheme. But it works out so pleasingly. We get to have secrets, even in an environment where “every dollar has a purpose” so every dollar is planned. For us, the secret-super-cool-gift is the only fun kind of gift. We don’t give cash or certificates. I’ve always thought they were tacky, to be honest.

Beyond the secrecy enabling, there is also the guilt-freeing. If I want to buy an expensive gift and I have the money in the envelope, I buy it and don’t think twice. If I don’t have the money, and I’m unwilling to kick in money from my monthly “mad money”, then I just don’t get it. Simple, no agonizing involved at all. Plus, as many people have discovered many times in history, having your choices constrained forced you to be more creative. Too many options and it is somehow harder to come up with ideas.

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