Reply #16: Two elements of a good budget: [View All]

[ZenLefty]

1) Making it.
2) Following it.

When making a budget, be sure to give yourself some money to play with. Figure out your bills, stuff you have to pay and don't have a choice about. What's left over goes either into savings or play money. Put as much as you can into savings, but make sure to take out enough enough to play with. If you don't, you'll break your own rules, and won't follow your budget.

What worked for me was I would pull out cash every paycheck, and told myself that's all I got to spend until next paycheck. If my wallet was empty, I had to wait until I got paid again.