We want to help you with one of the hardest parts of taking control of your finances: the budget. We’re going to teach you to create and master a budget. It doesn’t matter how much money you make. If you don’t know how to manage it and can’t live within your budget, you’ll have a hard time paying your bills on time and saving for the future. Coming up with a spending plan really makes a difference.

You Have To Be Serious: Budgets are for people who are serious about paying their bills on time and building good credit, saving and being prepared for emergencies, and building wealth.

You Have To Be Realistic: Your budget has to live in the same real world you do. Budgets are not fantasy exercises. They must connect to real spending patterns. Budgets work for people who are willing to be honest about money.

Budgets Are Just a Start: Spending plans must be part of an overall program of wealth creation. Learning how to budget well doesn’t make much sense if you don’t also learn how to build credit, save, and invest wisely.

Use this exercise to learn how to create lists of your expenses and income. Then you can use these numbers to determine your monthly financial health and make changes and set savings goals.

What kind of spender are you? Take this quiz from The Beehive to see! (This will open The Beehive website in a new browser window).