My fellow members of the Money Blog Network are writing articles about budgets and budgeting.
As most of my readers know, I’m a little ‘old school’. I don’t use credit cards. I don’t borrow money. I use cash. And, I live on a budget.
Each month, I sit down at my computer and ‘map-out’ the month.
I list my monthly income and then I list expected monthly expenses.
At the end of the month, I take a ‘look back’ – looking for areas where I over- or under-estimated.
I use a budget for three reasons -
1. I struggle with organization, and using a budget helps me to stay organized.
2. My wife and I work on the budget together, and it gives us a chance to talk (about money, life, finances, etc.). Having a monthly ‘business meeting’ helps keep us focused and on the same ‘team’.
3. I have found that when I ‘write it down’, I spend less money, period.
I would strongly urge you to ‘give budgeting a try’ – especially if you are new to personal finance management. I think you’ll find that using a budget ‘frees your mind’ to think about more important things – like friends, faith, and family.
Here are a few articles that I’ve written about creating and using a budget -
How To Create A Budget If You Have Irregular Income
Annual Expenses: When Dividing By 12 Doesn’t Work
Simple – A Simple Zero-Based Budget
If you are looking for a great, easy-to-use budget software, consider site sponsor -

February 7th, 2008
NCN 
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