Manage Your life by M.P.Dunleavey

An easy-does-it budget anyone can follow -

I recently started working with a different budget than my normal one (which calls for a focus on saving first--i.e. meeting certain savings targets first, for unexpected expenses, emergencies, retirement, debt--and then living on the remainder). That's one budgeting blueprint, and I like it; it's helped me to become a pretty agile saver.

This new spending plan is just that--a plan that helps you to be a more disciplined spender. I learned it from my colleague Galia Gichon; it's a topic we often cover when we teach together, but after our most recent seminar in NYC, I decided to test-drive it again. (My budgeting philosophy, btw, is to always try new techniques. As life changes, your financial needs also change.)

See our tips: Money stresses solved! Try our easy-to-follow steps to take charge of your finances—and start loving your life.Here's how it works:

A) Start by listing all your fixed expenses, both regular and irregular (rent, mortgage, loan payments, utilities, prescriptions, insurance, credit card payments, groceries, etc.). Tally up those basic bills--but don't include things like shopping or entertainment. Just list your essential monthly expenses. If you don't know what your typical electric bill is, average a couple of months together. If you don't know what you spend on groceries, check your bank statement, add up receipts, get at least a ballpark figure.

(If you're a freelancer, consultant or otherwise self-employed, include taxes here, because you should be setting aside money each month for your estimated taxes.)

B) Now add the amounts that you save (i.e. pay yourself): include retirement savings, personal savings, emergency savings, travel savings.

C) Add A + B together, and subtract that total from your monthly net income. The remainder is what you can live on, the cash amount you can safely spend each month on sundries like clothes and eating out and new towels, a pedicure, books, etc.