#kakeibo

Chou Yarikuri Enjoi! Tamagotchi Kakeibo is an accessory for the Chou Jinsei Enjoi Tamagotchi Plus (Entama) or even Uratama and was released in Japan on April 29th, 2006 for ¥4,950. It features a touch screen and a stylus (that is the antenna when not used) along with a heart-shaped infrared port to connect your Tamagotchi to. Below the screen it reads “TMGC TOWN GINZA STREET”.

Ginza Street allows you to access a drug store where you can purchase medicine, a convenience store where you can purchase foods, flowers, and music items, the cake shop where you can buy a delicious sweet treat, Ginza Supermarket where you can purchase most items including clothes, a discount store where you can buy foods and drinks at a discount, the Gotchi Bank where you can deposit money for later usage. The Gotchi Bank does require a four digit pin to access the bank and your funds. There are even accounts for regular savings and super savings.

There’s also a Gotchi Library that is a dictionary players keep. It records which Tamagotchi characters have discovered on their Entama and Uratama. There’s the YariKuri center where you can buy and sell for more Gotchi points or items, and the Ginza Street Arcade which has fun games including the Dodge Ball game.

Lastly, the Cho YariKuri Enoji! Tamagotchi Kakeibo features Account Book Cards that you can use to keep track records of your deposits, debits, withdrawls and other transactions.

For the past several years, I've done a Reverse Budget, but circumstances have meant that I've needed to tighten up on how I spend, so I decided to marry it to the Kakeibo Method to track spending and find additional savings. (If you google, you will find many other guides and videos that go in depth into Kakeibo and some sites include free printables.)

If you've struggled with other budget methods because they are too strict, inflexible, overwhelming, or the software has a learning curve, Kakeibo might be the right fit for you.

What I like about the Kakeibo method is:

It's super frugal to get started and maintain. All you need is paper and pen. (You probably have a notebook hanging around, and if you don't, they are cheap.)

It holds you accountable by making you log expenses as they happen (or no later than end of day), by making you reconcile spending each week, and by reflecting on lessons learned at the end of the month.

It makes you come to grips with your income and how much money you have "free" after your fixed expenses. (And to determine those fixed expenses, you will be examining your CC and bank statements closely, because you will be listing those expenses out to start each month.)

It has some aspects similar to reverse budget in the sense that once you've allocated money for your monthly fixed expenses, you are free to spend your weekly "allowance" however you see fit.

It is simple! There are 4 broad spending categories, and no trying to forecast variable expenses. So you're not overwhelmed with "giving every dollar a job", or feeling bad if something goes over the money allocated to an "envelope", (or for failing to realize you needed an envelope to begin with).

It considers cultural (leisure and pleasure) spending a legit category, and not just a "want". Going to the movies/museum/concert or buying a book? Culture. The non-work convention (vacation) I had last month? Culture.

It's flexible and adaptable to your needs and lifestyle. For example, to marry it to Reverse Budget, I consider my "pay your self first" savings one of my fixed expenses. If the 4 categories are too broad for you, create as many as you need for granularity.

I've also figured out a work-around for 4 week months vs 5 week months. I don't track my spending via calendar weeks. I divide each month in to 5 "weeks" of 6 days, with some months having a final week of 7 days. (Did I mention it is flexible?)

Does it work?

📒 Siempre busco formas efectivas para hacer mi vida menos compleja, buscando "ayuda práctica" que funcione; y si me funcionan a mí, tal vez puedan serte útil a ti también ;)

After weeks of indecisiveness I finally settled on running my Uratama!

Even though I’m running two color devices right now I can’t resist running at least one good ol’ fashion Tamagotchi! The 2000′s tamagotchis are the classic definition of what a tamagotchi is, probably because they are the version I grew up with.

I was bouncing around between the Entama and the Uratama - I usually pick based on both gameplay and shell but as they are both frill it was a bit tough. The Entama shell is a softer pink and has that connection background that I’m obsessed with BUT I love playing the Uratama more. It’s easier to keep up with, the characters are cuter and I’m obsessed with the nighttime theme!

Anyway, I finally had to ask my husband which one I should run and he said the Uratama because he thinks the night theme is cool, as well. He also offered to switch the backgrounds for me but I want to take some time to really think about it before I do an operation on my brand new Uratama, especially since it is my favorite shell.

Quick Teku Teku Angel update: she evolved recently into a bunny character! She is in the beast lineage so I’m looking forward to seeing what other cute animals she will evolve into!