Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck?

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Money problems keeping you up at night? Do you want to finally take control of your money? It’s time to learn how to budget!
Living on a budget will allow you to get out of debt, plan for your future money needs and become financially fit.
To lay a strong foundation for financial success we need to evaluate our money spending and saving habits.
For some of us our weaknesses can be obvious, as in too many trips to the mall. Others might struggle with bringing in enough income.
Whatever your situation is you should know that to be the boss of your money and become financially fit you need to identify both, your strengths and weaknesses, when handling the dough.
Taking control of your finances starts by creating a budget.

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Also from the “Getting your Money Life Together” Series:

12 Reasons Most Americans Are Broke
* 7 Money Lessons Unemployment Taught Me

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Step 1: Embrace living on a Budget
You are the boss of your money. You work hard to earn it. Your job is not just to spend it, you need to learn to manage it wisely. Don’t give it away! Last I checked, money ain’t free!
Just like any business runs on a budget, to live debt free and build wealth it is necessary to embrace budgeting and run our households like a business, on a budget.
I am talking about a written plan that details our every income and expense, not the kind of budget that exists only in our minds and never materializes on paper.
One thing is to know exactly how much money is coming in and how we are spending it. Another totally different thing is the “Yay! Honey, we haven’t over drafted this month..yet.” kind of budget.
We’ve all been there! And it is usually too late when you realize that you blew $500 more than you earned last month, on makeup and shoes.
Your Budget is Your Allied
Contrary to what many people think, making a budget is easy. The challenge is sticking to it and keeping track of our every expense.
Start out your budget by understanding your income and creating an Expense Report to understand your outgo.

Step 2. Understand Your Income
Write down your income including all paycheck dates and amounts. Make sure to include money coming in from real estate rentals and side hustles if that is the case. You need to know exactly how much money in total is coming in.
If you are married and have joint accounts, which I highly recommend, you need to add your spouse’s income and expenses as well to your Expense Report.

Step 3. Understand your Outgo

To figure out how much money you spend we need to create an Expense Report. This is a detailed breakdown of all your expenses, from you mortgage payment and water bill, to the pack of gum you purchased at the gas station.
I recommend that you do your first Expense Report on paper, there is a lot you can learn about your spending habits when you manually write the expenses on paper.
If you rather using Excel or a budgeting app that is fine too.