Last year, my Gramma gave me a sewing machine for my birthday. This is it:

Can you find it in there?

The thing is, I actually asked for it. I didn’t have a sewing machine, and one of the things on my list of 101 in 1001 is to sew curtains for my kitchen window. I have the smallest amount of sewing knowledge, but I managed to pass Home Ed in grade 7 and sew elastics and ribbons on ballet shoes for years. I even did this for the bugz first Christmas!

So I asked, and I received. And it has collected dust ever since. I haven’t even threaded it. I don’t know if I even have thread.

But I want to sew! I want to learn again! I want to make stuff. I don’t know why…maybe because I am surrounded by ridiculously crafty people who know how to sew…maybe because of Pinterest…who knows…

Fortunately, this coincides with a new challenge for our family: Money Jars. Yes, just like Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s, although not nearly as exciting as my Bad Choice Jar…

We are overspending like crazy lately, and it needs to be reeled in. We make way too much money to have nothing left at the end of the pay cycle. Don’t get me wrong: our savings is topped up every week, and all our bills are being paid. I just hate that SO MUCH goes to waste. Random interac purchases, lunches out, boredom shopping…I hate it. So today, I dug out Gail’s interactive budget worksheet for the first time in a few years.

(I have a budget spreadsheet…hers is just prettier, and I like the way the categories are broken down versus my list of in/out and due dates…!)

We tried to do this a few years ago, but we were flat broke and our expenses outweighed our income. It was an utter failure. Now we are on the flip-side, and the numbers actually work. And being a visual creature, I have always loved the idea of SEEING what I have. When it’s hidden in a bank account, I can’t see it or grasp it or break it down. I’m also far too lazy to keep an accounting ledger like my mom does.

But jars? Jars are kind of a pain in the bottom to lug around in my purse. And they’re noisy. And breakable.

Well, this morning I saw this tutorial on Pinterest:

from just*imagine*heaven

The timing was perfect, so I clicked the link and to my surprise, it was a REALLY easy project! Two squares sewn together, then folded and sewn again to make an envelope! Now I have a project to work on next week (after I pick up scraps from Erin!), and just in time for our next pay day. They are soft enough to throw in my purse, and all the change from the envelopes will go in a jar. And truthfully? There should be a lot leftover at the end of each week.

I’m killing two birds with one stone: finally sewing something AND getting our discretionary spending under control!! Yay!

Have you used the jar technique for budgeting before? How has it worked for your family?