If you have a budget in place, most of your regular paycheck is already allocated for something. Ideally about 10% should be put aside for savings. It would be a good idea to use about half of your savings for long term savings and half for your crisis fund. Your long term savings would be used for large purchases like a home or money for college for kids while a crisis fund would be used smaller purchases.

With all of different items that average individual or family spends money on, it can be difficult to keep it separated. You have to have money for groceries, car gas, school lunches, Groceries, Dining Out and Entertainment just to name a few.

You could buy a box of envelopes each payday and sort money on payday and stuff money in an envelope until you need it. Of course, then you would have to have a safe place to keep it.

If you like envelope method, then by all means use it. However, entire purpose of The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer is to simplify things. Sitting down at kitchen table each payday and sorting cash is far from simple.

It would be much better to try storing it in your wallet or purse. You would have money when and where you need it. There is an element of risk that money could be lost or stolen. If you don't feel comfortable with having that much cash in your wallet and don't have problems handling your checking account, you could deposit money for groceries in your account and write a check for your normal grocery shopping. I wouldn't write a check for just a milk and bread run.

For a family, a budget keeper should be assigned to sort money. They would be responsible to distribute money to other members of family. To do this you will have to clearly define who in family is responsible for what expenses. Let me give you an example:

A family with a working dad and a stay-at-home mom with three teenage kids may distribute their money like this: