Budgeting is the process of creating a plan to spend your money. Creating this spending plan allows you to determine in advance whether you will have enough money to do the things you need to do or would like to do.

Budgeting is simply balancing your expenses with your income. If they don’t balance and you spend more than you make, you will have a problem. Many people don’t realize that they spend more than they earn and slowly sink deeper into debt every year.

If you don’t have enough money to do everything you would like to do, then you can use this planning process to prioritize your spending and focus your money on the things that are most important to you.

Q. Why is budgeting so important?
A. Since budgeting allows you to create a spending plan for your money, it ensures that you will always have enough money for the things you need and the things that are important to you. Following a budget or spending plan will also keep you out of debt or help you work your way out of debt if you are currently in debt.

If you have poor credit, you can fix your credit score (score rating), but it can take time – even years. Because of the time involved, we prefer to talk about this process in terms of re-building or re-establishing your credit rather than simply “fixing your credit.”  Fixing sounds like a fast process, but there is rarely anything quick about it. Many people go to great lengths to try to improve or maintain their credit. We don’t think that your credit score is as important as many people hold it out to be. Whatever decision you make, you need to do what makes the most sense for you, your situation and your family. Sometimes doing the right thing for your situation may hurt your credit score for a while. The only time that you need a great credit score is when you plan to apply for credit. If you have no plans of applying for credit any time soon, then just try to be responsible and do the right thing, but don’t get too carried away about the importance of your credit score. Many banks and credit unions have their own credit scoring systems which they use instead of the standard FICO credit scoring system. So no one can give you precise advice on how to beat the system and have the very best score. Your objective should be to have a good credit situation from anyone’s point of view – not just from the perspective of one score.