Family budgeting has often less about numbers and more about finding something that works. But while budgeting used to involve envelopes, calculators, and arguments at the kitchen table, today’s families have upgraded (or downgraded, depending on your perspective) the methods they follow.
Here’s a comparison of the classic vs. contemporary approach to managing money when your life includes kids, pets, bills, and a mysterious $14.99 charge that nobody can explain. Try to see the humor in the comparisons, and find elements in each that may work for you.
Old Way: The envelope system
Labeled with care: Groceries, Gas, Clothing, and Miscellaneous. You put cold, hard cash in each one. Once the envelope was empty, that was it. You were done spending, even if you had to live on instant noodles for five days.
New Way: The It’ll Work Out app method
Who needs envelopes when you have budgeting apps, none of which you open on a regular basis? You downloaded one that links to your bank account, but now it just sends judgmental notifications like, You’ve spent $642 at Target this week. You then tell your app to mind its own business.
Old Way: Family budget meeting
Held once a month at the kitchen table. Everyone sat down with paper, pencils, and a calculator the size of a dinner plate. You reviewed spending, planned for the next month, and promised to be more frugal about snacks.
New Way: Passive-aggressive text thread
Text: Did you order something from a site called ‘InstaFace’?
Text: Why is there a $72 charge for fast food on a Tuesday?
How texts fit into any concept of budgeting is anyone’s guess, but it can be very real for how spending is communicated.
Old Way: Meal planning
You planned every dinner, shopped with a list, and stuck to it like a financial guru. Coupons were clipped. Sales were hunted. There were spreadsheets for chili night.
New Way: The What do you want to eat? stand off
Grocery budgets die in the group chat. No one agrees. You hit the emergency pizza delivery button twice, then spend $120 at the store anyway. Half the produce wilts in the fridge while your kids eat microwave quesadillas for the third night in a row.
Old Way: Save first, spend later
Ten percent of every paycheck went straight into savings. Rainy day funds were sacred. You had an emergency envelope that you were proud never to touch.
New Way: Let’s Just see what’s left
Savings happens if there’s anything left at the end of the month. Spoiler alert: there never is. You mean well. But then there’s the school fundraiser, a surprise dental bill, and somehow you’re buying $9 strawberries in January again.
Old Way: One credit card for actual emergencies
There was one card. It lived in your wallet, untouched, like a financial fire extinguisher. You didn’t even know the PIN. It was only for car breakdowns or sudden root canals.
New Way: Twelve cards and a points strategy you can’t explain
You rotate between four personal cards, two shared ones, and a mystery card from a store you don’t even shop at anymore. You earn points, but no one knows what for.
The old way of budgeting was simple, disciplined, and was often necessary if your parents were going to make ends meet. Today’s hectic spending, is often caused by an excess of debt instruments available to us. Some might say it even mimics the example we are being given by our leaders. The point? Where there is a will there is a way. Try to leverage the tools available to you and take an idea or two from the past. Who knows? It may make a difference.
