As soon as you make your budget, be sure to make your budget a dynamic document for success. It should not be part of the huge pile of mess you leave in your table at home or at the office. It should be your reliable tool to manage your actions and decisions in support to your finances. Budgeting means wise spending For example, you can beat the high cost of dining out. your groups can be work-related, shopping, utility bills, insurance, car maintenance, meals, or any groupings that actually make sense to you. After you have listed your expenses in a month, and having been able to group them, get the total of it all. Hopefully, it is less than your income in that particular month. The budget is thereby easily reviewed, negotiated, modified and managed for approval and implementation. Budgeting software simplifies spread sheets so you know exactly how much you have money left to spend. With it, you will quickly understand the impact of your spending habit. It effectively helps you in every step you should make to improve your finances. The Australian National Audit Office has identified the advantages of activity based budgeting: The Advantages - Output costs are supported by a schedule of costed activities - Opportunities to examine work processes - Identifies non value-adding activities that can be eliminated - Basis of a performance measurement system and direct link between strategic goals and operational realities - Enables cost profiles to be managed - Accurate costing data for operational management - Costs are transparent, understandable and actionable Disadvantages - Activity definition may become too detailed and the model may become too complex and difficult to maintain - Underestimation of the task of collecting activity driver data - Implementation may be considered a financial management fad and there is insufficient commitment from operational managers Activity Based Budgeting Disadvantages - Usually requires buying Activity Based Budgeting software - Requires training of all managers including budgeting department - Requires people to really understand what drives their budget - Eliminates excuse that activity volume changed because it makes visible volume changes - Requires everyone to collect or estimate activity volume By understanding how resources are transformed into products or services, and byfocusing on the cost of activities, activity based budgeting helps an organisation to obtain a greaterunderstanding of how costs behave in their organization and which activities create significant amounts of cost. You budget enough money for your house, may it be a condominium unit or an apartment. What it is doesn t matter, what matters is how livable it is. Personal budgeting doesn t just focus on money. It does focus mainly on money but should also not neglect the ambience of your chosen residence. For those who live alone, then you have to be more considerate and more price-meticulous of the place that you will live in. Start saving early. Whether you're saving for your kids' college education, a new home in a nice village, or a special out-of-the-country vacation, start saving early. It is easy to put off saving until next month, but you never know what will come up that will change your plans. So instead of putting it off, begin by making a small, automated contribution to your savings account just after each paycheck.