Day 2 of 60/300!

A few years ago Chris and I switched to the Dave Ramsey method of budgeting. We don't follow it as well as we should but I still swear by it. When we first switched we did actual, literal Envelope for our Envelope Budgeting. After a while our Envelopes began to look sad, so we switched to one of those little coupon accordion folders. We went through a few of them and then Chris said he wanted to switch to virtual envelopes. I was skeptical but gave them a try. However, months later we've concluded they just aren't working so back to actual Envelopes. I saw a few people make their Envelopes on a few blogs so I thought I'd give it a try.

I need to preface this by saying that I wish I were a crafty person. I LOVE to create crafts, and make stuff - I am just not very good. My friends Kristina, and Amy have more craftiness in their little pinkie than I have in my entire body. I do try though. Sometimes it works and other times I fail miserably. This time I came somewhere in between.

I started out making a template of an office envelope I had. My intention was to use two pieces of scrapbook paper so my Envelopes would be pretty inside and out. I also planned to laminate it to make it more durable.

My template for my first Envelope.

This is the traced template on scrap book paper.

I printed off labels using the Avery Template Program. We actually have 10 Envelopes - Chris Gas, Gas, Beth Fun, Chris Fun, Pets, Food, Fun (family), Clothes, Gifts, and Misc.

My first template didn't work well. The Envelope didn't close very well. Using two pieces of scrap book paper made it very bulky and difficult to manage. So I made another template which worked a little better. Next time, though, I will get double sided scrapbook paper and make myself happier.

These are the Envelopes prior to lamination. This project took entirely too long. To make it easier next time I will use only ONE sheet of paper and just buy double sided scrapbook paper. i will also create ANOTHER template with longer "wings"

And the final product. I used Velcro dots to close the Envelopes. Each Envelope has a different inside and it makes them super cute! They are more like plastic little pouches after all the lamination though.

These will go inside my Mizzell Family Binder once complete!

This project, unfortunately, took up a big chunk of my day. I did work on the garage more though. It is nearly complete and the pile of donate, trash, and sell is quite huge. I'm stuck, at the moment, until Chris can help me complete it. Only two more boxes to go through, a very good sweeping, and all the remaining boxes to be neatly stored and that room will be complete. Hopefully this weekend we will complete it and I can cross that room off my list. Tomorrow I begin the Master Bedroom Closet - a very scary place!