Question

Series of envelopes that are divided into catefories (food, entertainment, gas, etc) and are used to store cash for planned monethly expenses

Envelope System

Zero-based budget

Cash Flow Statement

Answer 1

The description — a series of physical envelopes divided into categories (food, entertainment, gas, etc.) used to store cash for planned monthly expenses — is the Envelope System (a.k.a. cash envelope system).

Quick definitions and how they relate:
- Envelope System: A budgeting method where you put cash into labeled envelopes for specified spending categories. When the envelope is empty, you stop spending in that category.
- Zero-based budget: A budgeting approach where every dollar of income is assigned a purpose (expenses, savings, debt paydown) so income minus allocations equals zero. The envelope system is a practical way to implement a zero-based budget for variable spending categories.
- Cash Flow Statement: An accounting/financial statement that summarizes cash inflows and outflows over a period (operating, investing, financing activities). It’s a formal financial report, not the same as a personal envelope budgeting tool.

If you want, I can show a simple envelope setup, a template for a zero-based budget that works with envelopes, or pros/cons of using cash envelopes.