Educational Resources: Money Matters

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Why Budget Your Money?

Have you ever taken $20 out of the ATM and, at the end of the day, not known where it all went? It is critical you understand where your money goes. Knowing what your income and expenses are every month will help you take control of your financial situation.

Taking control of your financial situation helps you:

• Reduce the anxiety of not knowing whether you have enough money to pay your bills when they are due; and
• Gives you a sense of control over money, rather than letting money have control over you.

Budgeting will also help you build assets. Building assets improves the quality of life for you and your family.

A good place to start taking control of your financial situation is to develop a saving and spending plan. This is called a budget. A budget is a step-by-step plan for meeting expenses in a given period of time.

One way to understand where your money goes is to keep a daily spending diary to record everything you spend. You can use this information to track your spending over a period of time.