Financial

Organize! Write it down! Review it regularly! If you don't see it with your eyes, you are liable to forget it and mismanage it. Budgeting can be a tricky task, especially depending on your debt, expenses, income sources, taxes, etc.

Genuineness

If you are in denial about financial difficulty, then genuinely looking at your situation will get you in a place to take action. Remember, the enemy of change is comfort, and too often, ignorance is bliss. Financially, this combination of ignorance leading to denial, leading to false-comfort is extremely dangerous, especially if you use credit to fall back on. Take a step back from your situation, then without judging yourself, just see if you REALLY are satisfied with how you manage your finances. You will know if you are not being genuine by that tension (i.e., discomfort) in your gut, or if you find yourself making excuses (ex. "Well, I HAVE to pay the water bill!! I can't help that!" then ignoring the fact that you spend $200/month on alcohol).

Awareness

Whether or not you find that tension in yourself when reflecting on your financial situation, if you want to improve your grasp on your money management, then writing it down will help. By writing down your income and expenses, etc. you begin to encode your awareness not just intellectually (via thought), but also visually (as you see it), and tactilely as you 'feel' the numbers and concepts that you write. If you are a computer friendly person, budgeting software is readily at your local software store; if not, writing it down on paper works just as well (I still to this day write my budget by hand, despite having the computer and software to do it for me--I just like to 'get my hands on it').

ESTIMATED BUDGET (ROUNDED): Begin by writing down all of your estimated expenses and all of your estimated NET income. Round expenses up a little (ex. if rent is $586, round it to $590) and income down a little (ex. if your check is $998, round it to $995). This rounding will help to account for some of the smaller unexpected expenses that you may have forgotten about. Here is a sample table of income and expenses:

EXPENSES (rounded up monthly)	INCOME (rounded down NET monthly)
Rent $400 (rounded from $395)	Full Time Job $1000 (actual net $1055)
Car Pmt $220 (actual $216)	Additional income $200 (actual $214)
Car Insurance $60
Car Fuel $40
Credit Card $50
Electric $100
Water $50
Gas $25
Groceries $200
Fun (dinner out, movies, etc.) $100
Clothes $25
Car Repair $15
Other $25
TOTALS $1310 (remember, this is high)	$1200 (remember, this is low)

Difference is -$110.

***REMEMBER!! Don't be too upset if your expenses are slightly more than your income--we rounded expenses up, and income down so that we can see the worst case scenario. Your ACTUAL tracking sheet will clear this up (see below).

If you can already spot places to cut expenses (i.e., get rid of caller ID, call waiting, cable TV and eating out so much), then you are already on track to financial stability. If not, you will need to pay close attention to the next exercise.

ACTUAL EXPENSE/INCOME TRACKING (1 MONTH): Get a pocket sized spiral notebook and a pen. EVERY time you spend any amount of money (even .25 cents of a piece of gum), WRITE IT DOWN. Do the same for sources of income. Do this for one month and you will be amazed at the amount of money that can be saved. One client found that he spent $200/month on eating out and smoking. . . he was falling short of rent by $180 each month. Problem solved!

Because of space constraints, I will not list all expenses/income possible in a month. Just remember to write them ALL down--even if you know it is only a one-time expense (you can mark the entry as such, and take that into consideration when you review the month). Doing this is both Genuine, and increasing Awareness.

I suggest for many of my clients to do the Estimated (rounded) budget at least twice a year, and that Actual Expense/Income log at least quarterly. Having these 2 exercises become a common routine will help you stay in control of your budget, rather than your budget being in control of you.

Trust

Trust yourself to be honest with your budgeting exercises. Trust yourself to be able to live without cable TV for a while. Trust that community resources (like Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS), etc.) are available to help you manage your budget and low or no-cost.

Empathy

As always, cut yourself a little slack. It REALLY IS difficult to give up Cable TV--go ahead a grieve it. Perhaps you can use the opportunity to get out of a depression by calling a friend to go for a walk (and who knows, they may invite you over to watch the game on their cable TV).

Also, have compassion for your family during tough financial times . . . the number one reason for martial/relationship conflict is finances (then parenting).