You won't lose weight unless you take in fewer calories than your body uses. Likewise, the only way to start whittling away your debt is to spend less than you make.
Sadly, portion control doesn't work that easily with money. You can't hold a wad of bills in the palm of your hand and call that today's spending money. And if you think "budget," the word conveys the same sense of deprivation as "diet" and you won't want to stick to it.
What you need is a plan
for how you're going to spend
your money so you have enough
left over to pay off your debt
and eventually to save.
A spending plan
isn't going to chide you like
a personal trainer if you spend
too much. Instead, it helps you
show fiscal responsibility by
reining in your spending, because
you spot your problem areas as
you build your spending plan.
More importantly, you can decide
where you're willing to cut corners,
so cutting back isn't so painful.
When you set up
a spending plan, you start with
how much you make and how much
you spend on unavoidable expenses
like rent, food and utilities.
Then, you figure
out how much you can afford to
spend on other stuff.
Food and a place to live aren't optional, but sushi dinners and safari vacations are. You can trim the dollars in the nice-to-have categories until you have some money left over from each paycheck.
