Budgeting and Cash Flow.....two simple phrases that you would expect to learn the meaning of in grade school. If not, certainly by High School. Well guess what...NEITHER!!! I suspect this is the main reason why so many young people get into financial trouble at such an early age. They have no idea how the whole process works. Did you hear the joke about the newlyweds arguing...one says "Why do we always run out of money before we run out of month", the other one snaps back "We can't be out of money, we have plenty of checks left!" The truth of the matter is that without proper budget planning, your financial freedom will be at risk!
When starting out to prepare a budget you must keep one underlying principle at the front of your mind. That is Honesty is the best policy. When you first start out, you have to do some estimating. Here is where you have to be truthful to yourself. For instance, if you are trying to figure out how much you spend on food each day, don't forget the daily stop to Java Palace on the way to work, or the afternoon snack at the office canteen etc. etc. A well thought out Budget will keep you on track to meeting any and all the goals that you set for yourself. Additionally, just writing down everything on paper that you are going to need when budget planning will help you uncover all the black holes that mysteriously consume your paycheck, month after month. Once you have your Budget in place, honesty has to kick in again. You have to honestly try to stick to your Budget or else you will fail. It does not happen automatically. There will be certain parts of Budget Planning that you can put on auto pilot. Doing so will help you in your quest to achieve financial freedom.


