Left over money?

[Libby]

Once my desired max amount/envelope was met, I'd use the overage and make an extra payment to debt or add to savings (EF) or retirement (RRSP) If the overage was small, I'd pool the monies in a separate envelope until it was enough to make a substantial extra payment towards debt.

Another thought - you could just set it aside in its own envelope marked 'overage' for those smaller unaccounted for surprises where you don't want to touch the EF (though thats what its for)

[greekislandgirl]

I didn't use the envelope system, just a weekly budget (on paper) but when our income was higher, I took the extra at the end of every week, put half back in the "envelope" (budget line item) and put the other half into savings. It was up to me every week how to divide up the savings half - sometimes I put it all in the EF, sometimes I put it into several different savings funds I had going. It was usually small amounts but I also kept a running total and I managed to put aside €300 in about 10 months of doing that.

Ultimately I stopped doing that because with our income reduced, we now have many weeks where I can't put anything into the "envelope" so I need the extra to carry over.

[pandapooh]

I roll over every category except Food and the extra from that envelope goes into a separate envelope that eventually goes towards debt.