Budgeting Basics

Everyone hates the “B” word: budget. Some people try to dress it up by calling it a spending plan or something similar. I’m fine with the word budget, mostly because I’ve seen the benefits of living on one for the past few years. I spent the first six years after college working in various cities and spending a larger part of what I earned. Although I was able to avoid some of the materialism and other pitfalls of my friends, I didn’t budget or spend much time thinking about such things. Once