How to Shop Online When You Are On a Cash Budget?

The problem that I had was that I wanted the deals online, but with using cash I had a real problem with getting those deals without going over budget. I found some Ninja tricks that worked for me and wanted to share them with you.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

For years I did not shop online at all - when we were at our hardest time financially I had to say no to most online deals, which is very hard! In my book The Recovering Spender I talk all about my issues with online shopping. One of my boundaries was that I only shopped online when I have money in paypal through selling something on Ebay or through taking at home surveys.

The problem that I had was that I wanted the deals online, but with using cash I had a real problem with getting those deals without going over budget. I found some Ninja tricks that worked for me and wanted to share them with you.

Here are some ways that you can shop online while still using a cash budget:

1.) You can skip using physical cash and use the ProActive Budget App.

The Proactive Budget App is a digitalized cash envelope system. You set your money up in the app in digital envelopes and your account comes with a special ProActive Debit card. In order for you to spend money in one of your envelopes open the App, Tap an envelope and then use your ProActive Debit card.

You can create a cash envelope for 'Online Spending' and then spend directly out of that category. Here is a video that shows you a bit more about the App.

The app is a paid app, but if you refuse to use cash but still want the cash envelope feel, this may be a great option. You can hook more than 1 debit card up to the same account, so that is convenient for if one of you needs to stop on the way home from work to grab something.

Sign up for the ProActive Budget App here.

2.) Sign up for the a Chase Online Checking Account and use it to pre-fund for online shopping.

I used this trick for years! I signed up for an Chase online checking account (sign up for a Free $350 bonus here), then would pre-fund the account with $50 per month for online shopping. Some months I spent it all, others I still had money left in my account and I would transfer enough money the next month to get it back up to $50.00.

I would recommend you give this money a purpose and amount. For example: Give yourself $30 per month to get diapers on Amazon, or $50 per month to shop online on Daily Deal sites for dates or Valentine's day gifts. The money needs to have a purpose and a reason to be in there, don't spend it 'just because you can'. Another perk is that you can get a FREE $350 bonus when you sign up for an account - see details here - Perfect to put aside for Christmas or use it to pay down debt.

3.) Use Swagbucks to earn money for online shopping.
It is very realistic that you can earn $5 in Amazon gift cards per month, you can save those up and use those for items like diapers, snacks, toilet paper, batteries + more!

What are some ways that you shop online and still use a cash budget? I would love to hear them.

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN SHOPPING