Page 63 - Managing Your Resources - Student Syllabus - short combined

Study Section 10: The Envelope System of Working your Budget….

10.1 Connect

One easy way to manage your expenses is by using an envelope system. It is tried and
proven to be an effective way over many years. Today we have one of three choices for
managing our plan. We can do it on paper, or we can do it on computer, assuming you have
one, or we can use the envelope system of financial management. Just pick one and stick
with it.

We also want to learn about debt. Should you borrow money for things you need? What happens if
someone you love dies, and you need to go to their funeral, but don’t have any money to get there?
Should you ask for an advance on your salary? Should you borrow money from someone else? What
should you do? We will look at what the Bible says in answer to these and many other questions about
debt.

10.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain how to use the envelope system of managing monthly
expenses and budgeting.

2. The student should be able to share what the Bible says about borrowing money and going
into debt.

3. The student should be able to clearly define what debt is and why God does not want us to be in
debt.

10.3 The Envelope System of Working your Budget The following was suggested by Dave Ramsey
in his article, “The Envelope System Explained” (https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/envelope-system-explained_)

The envelope system is nothing new—it’s been around for decades. But some people still
don’t know exactly how it works.

So, What Is the Envelope System?
With the envelope system (sometimes call the clip system) you use cash for different
categories of your budget, and you keep that cash tucked away in envelopes. You can see exactly how
much money you have left in a budget category just by taking a quick peek in your envelope. How easy
is that?

How the Envelope System Works
It’s a good idea to use the envelope system for items that tend to bust your budget. Think of things like
groceries, restaurants, entertainment, transportation and clothing.

Best of all, you don’t have to save up any money to start using the envelope system. It works like this:
Let’s say you’ve budgeted $200 a month for groceries. When you get your first paycheck of the month,
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