A lot of people have taken the time to write out their budget. But few of us stick to it. Why? Let's explore a little further. If you haven't written out your budget recently, do so. (You can use a Debt Matters budget sheet if you wish.) Your monthly budget probably looks something like this:

Mortgage:	$900
Gas/phone/electric/water:	$225
Cable/Internet:	$75
Housing maintenance/repairs:	$200
Car payment:	$350
Gasoline:	$120
Auto maintenance:	$100
Car insurance:	$125
Mobile phone:	$55
Groceries:	$350
Entertainment/dining costs:	$200
Savings:	$200
Miscellaneous:	$200
Total costs:	$3,100
Total after-tax income:	$3,100

Plenty of people have a budget like this, but for some reason at the end of the month, the $200 doesn't make it into their savings account. What goes wrong? The money gets frittered away on the un-fixed costs, like dining. You can budget $350 for groceries, but how much you spend varies from week to week.

One thing that could help is keeping a budget within your budget, by removing all the fixed-cost items such as mortgage, car insurance etc. So your new budget might look like this:

Groceries:	$350
Home Maintenance:	$200
Car Maintenance:	$100
Entertainment/dining costs:	$200
Savings:	$200

Looks a lot simpler doesn't it? These are the numbers you need to monitor all month long. Car and home maintenance are a little tricky because repairs don't arise on a monthly basis and they tend to be more than $200. So, just make sure that the budgeted amounts go into an emergency fund that can be tapped to pay these big ticket items. Carry this mini budget with you and write down all your purchases against these items. When you go over in an area, you're done spending in that area for the month unless you are under in another area. Do this and the leaks in your budget will be revealed. Knowing where the pitfalls are makes them easier to avoid.