Budgets and Diets

The most important thing I tell people when creating budgets is "Be Realistic." You can't eliminate everything fun from your life and expect to live that way for the sake of saving money. Budgets are like diets, if you can't have a piece of cake every now and then you will never stick with it. So if you know you love to eat out or buy clothes, it's ok, just budget for it. Set a maximum amount per month and stick to it. You can still have a shopping spree every now and then, just save up for it. It will be much more rewarding knowing you did not spend an extra $50-$100 in finance fees because it took 6 months to pay it off! So figure out what kind of "cake" you can't live without and include it in your budget to ensure budgetary success!