by Brady Rutgarr

Created on: May 10, 2009   Last Updated: May 12, 2009

It is important, no matter how much you make, to manage your finances wisely. An important tool in personal financial management is the budget. Although the concept can be intimidating, a budget is nothing more than a monetary breakdown of income vs. expenditures. There are many logical reasons for creating and following a budget, such as planning for unexpected expenses or the loss of a job, saving for your retirement or your children's education, and staying or getting out of debt.

Yet even in rough economic times such as these, many individuals and families do not follow a budget to guide their financial decisions. Budgets can be daunting and the subject of personal financial management is often viewed as a topic of social taboo. It can be difficult to learn how to manage your money effectively when you have no examples to learn from. While budgeting is taught in most high school finance classes, it usually comes before most students have to deal with the responsibilities and pressures of life in the 'real world'.

Here are a few indicators that a budget could benefit you in your current financial situation:

1. You have trouble making bill payments. This is the most obvious reason to create a budget. By allotting your financial resources to all of your regular bills (such as electric, gas, and water and sewage - to name a few) you can rest assured that there will be money to pay for them as soon as the bill arrives in the mail. Sure, creating a budget can reduce the amount left over to spend, but it all comes down to whether you want to be able to buy things on a whim or if staying warm on a winter night or cool on a blistering summer day is important.

2. You are paying minimum payments on credit cards. This is a bad one. I am proud to say that my credit card company must hate me. Why? Because I don't ever pay them any interest! In fact, my credit card pays me! But you know, it didn't start out that way. It took a few hard years of using a cash-only system after my wife and I were first married to learn how to manage our finances as a team. We had one credit card with a 500 dollar limit for emergencies and that was it.

If you're paying minimum payments, you're basically just throwing money away. Compound that with multiple credit cards and you've got a serious financial issue on your hands. It's time to nip this problem in the bud! Creating a budget can help you dedicate a little extra to help pay off those balances. You might consider

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