Budgeting is one of the most critical, basic, yet least understood and implemented detail of personal finance. Making a plan ahead of time will help you understand where your money is going instead of constantly wondering why you have too much month at the end of your money.

Budgeting isn't complicated either. You can use a note pad, a spreadsheet, an app like Everydollar, or forms like the ones found here. The most critical thing is to do it!

The best type of budget is a zero-based budget. This simply means that when you add up all of your income, subtract all of your expenses, subtract whatever money is assigned to savings of various types, the total is zero. You have assigned every dollar to something. It isn't that complicated! You just have to do it!

Some things to remember about creating a zero-based budget, especially those just beginning:

• Address the important items first, not the urgent. This includes food, shelter (including utilities), clothing and transportation.
• You may not get it right the first time. Give yourself some grace. You will probably have many "emergency" meetings to adjust your budget as items pop up that you either forgot or didn't anticipate. Have patience, good habits take time to form,
• Give yourself some breathing room in your budget. Have a "blow" item to account for unanticipated, non-emergency items (sports pictures, kids field trips, etc.),
• The sum of all of your income, minus all of your expenses, must equal zero. If it doesn't adjust items until it is.

zero based budget

INCOME - OUTGO = ZERO