The Budget

Probably the most important part of successful managing of our personal finances is The Budget. The budget will give an accounting of all of the money we bring in from salaries and wages, investment income, rental income... well you get the picture. Then it will give an accounting of the money we spend. Sounds easy doesn't it.

Well, the money that comes into the budget is usually easy to track because it comes from only a few sources. On the other hand the money that goes out is a whole other matter. We pay bills and spend money in so many different places that it is much more difficult to keep track of.

Get into the habit of asking for a receipt for EVERYTHING. Find a system to record all of your transactions on both sides of the ledger be it a manual ledger or electronic book keeping. Then enter each item every day.