We used to say that there was never enough money at the end of each month.  Now it seems like there is never enough money by the middle of the week.  I am embarassed to tell you how much my wife and I paid last year in bank fees.

So like I am making our 2009 New Years resolution to put family on a budget.  In the past have tried using Microsoft Money, Quicken and GNU Cash.  All of them are very good at keeping track of the money you spent but they all are pretty lousy at budgeting.  So I did a few internet searches and found peronal budget software called “You Need a Budget”.  It looks very promising.

Managing Finances is one of the most challenging areas in life. To be able to achieve your financial goals, managing all your financial priorities and lead a life you want is the ultimate possibility you can accomplish. But it is not easy to do these things and require a great amount of discipline and planning.

First you need to set priorities by narrowing on your objectives. This is the step which requires utmost attention because there may be a conflict when you set on goals that matter. Cut expenses brutally to accommodate more savings. It is a known fact that money saved is money earned. Involve everyone that matters to you in planning your expenses. There is no best time as now. Start setting goals, start prioritizing and drawing lines.

It can be a bitter experience to begin on such a planning. Change feels unwelcome at this point and you might wish to go back to your previous self. However, this is when you have to tighten the strings even more.

anaging personal finance is a skill, actually a very important skill, and hence can be learned like any other skill in this life. No body is born with this skill. Even the best financial managers who control the budgets of the biggest companies in the world can be bad at managing their personal finance if they have not been trained on. Did you know, for instance, that most of those who consider themselves experts in managing personal finance, including the humble author, have suffered a lot from financial crises in their life that you might not even be able to imagine??!! The good news though is that if those great managers have made their way through those crises and survived their impacts, then you stand a very good chance of improving your management skills and becoming more successful in your life.

ow do people learn personal finance management skills??!! Well, people can learn these skills from different resources and in different ways. They can learn them from their parents, friends, colleagues, spouses, or most commonly from their experiments and experiences. However, there are people who can repeat the same mistake for many times without realising that. This type of people need guidance and someone to tell them that they are wrong or that there is something they are not doing the right way. Also, there are people who find it difficult to master something without having a manual, a guide, or a mentor. This article can act as that voice that tells you ” when you do something right and ” when you do something wrong. This book can be your guide on how to make the most from your tight budget and limited resources. The author has tried his best to make it the only .