re: Dave Ramsey

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Yea I don't budget obviously, and I need to start.

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Absolutely. And I used to "budget" but it was very casual.

Don't do that. Budget down to the dollar, but allow reasonable tolerances.

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withdraw the rest for the envelopes?

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Yeah - you'll fight the plan on paper and execute it with the envelopes, bill pay and check.

You have to make debit card and credit card purchases forbidden - with exceptions of course - you have to book travel with some form of credit instrument, but that has to be budgeted.

And if it is not on the budget, you have to find it in your miscellaneous or, last resort, emergency fund. And an emergency is a life, limb or keep your job - everything else is suspended until that situation is stabilized.

I just found the savings in draconian budgeting to be worth the entire process. It isn't the only way, but it is a solid system.

The min/maxers will tell you to leverage money at below cost (like mortgages) - but people actually doing that already don't need the discipline of the babysteps, honestly. And it isn't as much money as they think. They value housing at $0, other than equity growth or a credit line to tap and that simply isn't true.

But, the min/maxers will do better over time - particularly a longer time, but they're not in a budget or consumer credit crisis, either.