There’s no getting around it: a budget is a requirement for good money management. There’s no need to have a negative attitude about budgeting. Stop thinking about budgeting as a difficult task or a punishment for being an impulsive spender. And stop thinking about it as a financial diet. Whatever budgeting tool you choose for your financial planning, the most important thing is that you are planning for your financial future. Making regular savings and investments will pay big dividends down the road. Getting started is the hardest part. Once you have your budgeting tool and a reasonable budget in place, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.