June 15th, 2013 
Jessica 
If you’ve been following The Abundant Wife for any length of time, you know that we have made great strides toward becoming debt-free. Despite all our progress, I tend to get over-anxious and depressed about our finances. When Brad told me our December 31 paycheck would be 75% and subsequent paychecks would be lower if our fundraising didn’t come in, I worried non-stop, couldn’t sleep, and walked around in a fog for a month. I remembered vividly our year in Minnesota, 6 of those months on 50% salary, and our year of living in my parents’ basement while unemployed. I panicked. I was sure we were headed down that same road again.
One night Brad told me that he really wished I wouldn’t worry so much. I knew that he meant it from his heart…I worry a lot and it’s hard on me and those around me. I’d been reading “Your Money or Your Life” and “Debt-Free Living” and I realized that my worries for the future rarely come true. I am a visual learner and I realized that I could worry less if I could “see” our budget better, and “plan” it better. I realized that paying for Mvelopes ($9.95/month) would give me the peace of mind that I was longing for.
Mvelopes has been a lifesaver for me. I’ve been using it for 6 months now, and I love it! I can finally “see” our budget and the money in our envelopes. Even though we’re on 75% salary for the third month this year, I can “see” that we still have the money to pay all of our upcoming bills without touching our savings. I’ve been sleeping better, more relaxed, more productive, and generally more pleasant to be around. Obviously Mvelopes is no “magic pill” that will fix all your problems, but if you’ve tried cash envelopes and other forms of budgeting without success, you may find Mvelopes as helpful as I do.
God has been teaching me a lot this year about trusting him with our finances, and Mvelopes is another great tool that helps me to do just that.
What money management software (on-line or off-line) do you recommend?
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I just use an excel spreadsheet. I have been told frequently that I worry too much.
I found some old journals yesterday, and was shaking my head at how I was just as worried then–with no kids and full paychecks–as I am now. It was another reminder that I worry no matter what our circumstances. I need to remember Philippians 4:12-13 every day! 🙂
I’ve been using mint.com on my iPad and the clarity has given me more peace of mind the last month and a half.
I like Mint too! I just wasn’t able to do as much with it as I needed.
I love mint.com, too! Especially since it is free!
I’ve kept my Mint account, and still love the feature on the bottom left with “Net Worth.” This year we’ve been well above “0” for the first time! 🙂
Hi Jessica, I’ve just found your blog through Pinterest as I’m looking for tips on meal planning on a budget. We use a fantastic budgeting software called YNAB (You Need A Budget). It is the best budgeting solution I’ve ever seen, and I highly recommend it to everyone!!
I’ve heard of that one but never tried it. I’ll keep it in mind! 🙂
Great blog (sorry I forgot to mention) 🙂 And congratulations on your awesome progress in reducing debt, that’s really impressive! I’ll be browsing your blog for a while yet, thanks for the great ideas!
Thanks for the encouragement! Have fun with your meal-planning! 🙂
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