Learning to budget your money can be rather difficult, especially if you are one of those compulsive shoppers, who enjoys shopping and picking up items that are new and exciting. Realizing that you need to set up a budget is one of the first steps in making a change for the better. One of the first and most difficult steps in budgeting your money is to actually set up the budget. Write out every bill that you have for each month. Do not forget to include an entertainment or miscellaneous category. If you do not set aside money for these types of items, you will find yourself cutting back on other areas in your budget to make room for the fun things that you want to do. Once you have a list of all of the things that you will need to pay for, you will need to decide how much money will be set aside for each category and from which paycheck each of these will be deducted from.
A helpful hint in keeping to your strict budget is to no longer carry cash. We are often persuaded to buy items in the check out that are on sale for only a dollar or two. This may not seem like a considerable amount of money, but can add up when you visit several stores in a day. Not carrying cash...