http://www.checkbook-covers.org <br />I feel that the first step toward being on top of your finances is starting a budget. This allows you to be able to closely examine how much money you have coming in, and how much is going out. <br /><br />I used to be one who never worked out a budget. I didn't keep track of my expenditures in a checkbook register or log. I just spent what I thought I could spend on what I would want, without thinking too much in detail about how this related to my income. <br /><br />It was like use the credit card here, use the debit card there, and then when the bills would come in, I would scratch my head and think how did all that get there! <br /><br />This is what got me into credit card debt in the past. I didn't keep close track of my expenses, and when my direct deposit pay stubs would come in (I worked hourly at the time), I would just throw them on the mail pile, without tracking the exact amounts to see how much came in for the two weeks. <br /><br />So basically, I was operating on a system of guesswork.
