Establishing a personal or household budget doesn’t have to be painful, and these resources can help make it easier.

One of the most important basic truths of successful money management is that you need to actively tell your money where to go or it will go away on it’s own. In other words, you need a money plan, also known as a household budget.

The whole purpose fo a household budget is to control your spending, reign in impulse buying, and help you allocate your money to savings and investing.

Without a budget, your money will go wherever it’s needed next and you’ll wonder where it all went at the end of the month.

You also need to be realistic about your spending habits and be willing to attempt to break bad habits and start to exert some self-control.

The steps to start out creating a budget are:

• Track Your Spending. Use a Budget Planning Worksheet to help you see what you spend for a few months, as this will help you guage what you spend and what your budget category percentages should be.
• Count Your Income. Add up all your salary, spouses salary, and other income.
• Allocate Every Penny to a Category. Use these recommended budget percentages as guidelines, but make sure you spend every penny on paper before you spend it for real.
• Use Software. To make budgeting less painful, and dare I say, relaxing, pick up a copy money management software like Quicken, Money Plus orMvelopes. All three have budgeting functions to help you track income and expenses, but only Mvelopes uses a software version of the popular “envelope system” of budgeting.

  You can also use the free sample household budget form, in Excel format.

  You will gain a clearer picture of your finances and it truly will help you plan your spending and saving better.

• Follow Your Plan. Stick to your budget vigilantly. Follow some family budget tips and learn some new ways to easily live within your means and still feel like you have money left over.

Here are several good resources to help you organize your finances and establish a budget.