The first step in creating a secure financial future is to gain control over what comes in and what goes out.
The main idea is to have less go out than comes in.
But exactly how can that be accomplished?It all begins with a budget, that financial planning tool that projects into the future, helps you plan and then execute that plan.
It is the key to your financial success.
Never attempt to budget without some form of history.
History is not guesswork.
Conclusions drawn by historians are based on evidence, facts gathered from intense research efforts.
The point is that you must have facts about your spending habits before you can make reasonable predictions about the future.
So the first step in developing a meaningful budget is to collect the data.
Keep a record of your income and expenses every day for a full month (two months would be better).
The data you collect will come in handy as you sit down to analyze your spending patterns.
You MUST keep accurate records, not just of out of pocket expenses, but ALL expenses, ALL bills paid, even ALL obligations for future payment--things you have charged thereby making a promise to pay in the future.
Charges must be seen as current expenses.
Okay, you have collected the data.
Now is the time to begin to make predictions, to budget.
Part of the analysis is designed to see what you must keep and what expenses you might be able to eliminate.
Here are some suggested steps for you to take to think about successful budgeting.

1. Develop a set of categories for both income and expenses and write them on a piece of paper.
   
2. On a second sheet of paper, list these income and expense categories in some order.
   You may want to group categories around themes or just list them alphabetically.
   Make sure you can divide your list into at least 13 columns (17) is better).
   
3. Start your budget at the beginning of a quarter.
   Use your current income and expenses as a starting point.
   List each income and expense item as a monthly total.
   In the beginning, projecting out one quarter is appropriate.
   As you adjust your spending and income you can work farther out than three months.
   
4. When you have entered all of the current numbers add up your income and strike a total.
   Next total your expenses and write that figure down.
   Subtract the latter from the former.
   If you have money remaining GOOD.
   That is a surplus and can be saved.
   You probably don't need to do much adjusting to your budget at the moment.
   If, on the other hand, your expenses are greater than your expenses, you are headed toward financial disaster.
   GOOD, now you know something you didn't know before.
   And, you have a tool to explore ways to bring your budget into balance.
   
5. When budgeting, don't forget about those things you want (vacations for example) and things you will need (a new car somewhere down the road.
   )You will also have to plan for expected and unexpected events such as weddings, gifts and the like).
   Leaving those things out will mean you will have no money to fund the things you want and need.
   

It is important to not think of your budget as a document written in permanent ink.
It is also not good to think of it as being written in disappearing ink either.
Rather, your budget is, and ought to be, a living document that you revisit with regularity.
My wife and I sit down with our family budget once each quarter and make needed adjustments.
In the beginning we did this once each month.
We spend the last quarter of the year thinking about what we really want and how we might want to indulge ourselves and, when it comes time to put our new budget on paper, we have already determined what extras will be important to us and what we can leave behind.
Budgeting is possibly the most important step you can take toward a secure financial future.
Begin the process for yourself today.