A great first week back on 'official magic jars'

It's been a long while since I have worked the jar system in it's truest form. I started again last week complete with jars and a little black book budget binder to mark things in. I am hoping to stay on this until the end of summer, just to re-experience what jars can do for me.

My budget will be changing as of June 25, when I tinker with it and settle in, to what I hope, is a relatively firm budget for a couple years.

I have to admit that it was with childish glee that I dug them out of my drawer and lined them up. I hit the ATM and withdrew my money and dutifully slotted it all into the appropriate jars. I created a leger for each of my jar categories and entered the Week 1 deposit into them.

• I am keeping some of my transportation money in my vehicle as a just in case, so that it is there if I need it. I have stuck a sticky note in my binder so I don't forget to include it in the balance and deduct it when it is time
• having the debit card was needed twice this week, but I immediately came home and withdrew that amount from the appropriate jar, tucked it in the 'next week' jar and wrote that in my budget binder
• I HATE writing things down  and seeing that balance grow smaller LOL It really makes me think about what I buy because I know it is going to be in my face in black and white when I check the budget binder
• I often would stop and say 'nooooo! to myself. do you think that if you buy that is better than the amount that would be left in the jar if you did NOT buy it?
• it is borderline aphrodesiacal (is that even a word???) to see money left over in the jars and carried over to the next week.
• when you pay in cash, you get a lot of change. Particularly in Canada with toonies and loonies. I could put them in their jar again or I could write them off as 'snowflake' and toss them in my coin jar to roll and pay down debt in July. Will be interesting to see how I work this.

So after one week on jars, I have 22% of my money left. There is some in the food/household jar. There is a bit in my personal 'allowance' jar. There is quite a bit left in the transportation jar. There is zippity doo dah left in the entertainment jar. I used it for ordering pizza one night and boy does that money go fast. It is definitely the 'jar to watch'.

So today I will slip down and get my money for the next week. Let the games begin.