When I was a kid, my grandparents kept several envelopes of cash in a desk drawer. It was their budgeting system and when money would come in it was allocated between various upcoming expenses each in a different envelope. It was very quaint, but I never recall them expressing any stress about money. The world changed and the next generation did something similar, but the money was in a checking account. Then came credit cards, which made budgeting less of a focus in that you had preapproved credit to handle unexpected expenses. In the short run, everything was great, but some then found it stressful to have to pay off their credit card.

Inflation is real and is having an effect on the average person. Many people are having real problems budgeting when prices seem to be going up constantly. They are having to decide what is a need and what is a want. The political class is saying that inflation is temporary, but never seems to offer a prediction of when it will subside.

Today there is a new invention making its way around the internet called “Cash Stuffing”. Young people are making videos telling others about a great system they invented where you put cash in envelopes to budget for necessary expenses. Videos marked with #cashstuffing have received 380 million plays to date.

That’s a lot of plays, so perhaps there is a trend going on here. We believe everyone; businesses, charitable organizations, or individuals at all levels of the economic spectrum need to review their budgets much more frequently and make adjustments for rising costs. This may be reallocating between expenses, or you may have an opportunity to raise your prices. Instead of annual reviews, you need to do so monthly or at least quarterly.

Businesses are finding their costs increasing with every purchase. Anyone who fails to respond and increase pricing to at least stay level will find it to be a costly mistake. Now is the time to review year-to-date financials (business or personal) and take action.

If you have questions, please contact the Dent Moses team.