Top Ten Features of a Successful Budget

1. Categories that fit your personal situation and your spending habits.
2. Accurate income projections.
3. Enough categories to give you a meaningful picture of where your money goes and where you might be able to cut costs.
4. Inclusion of expenses that don't occur on a monthly basis, such as car registration, insurance, etc.
5. Regular review of categories and expenses, and see if you can trim costs in each category.
6. Cash expenditure tracking and recording.
7. A line item for savings so you treat a contribution to your savings account just as you would a bill you owe.
8. Realistic written goals. Budgeting isn't about tracking your costs; it's about setting financial goals (saving for a down payment on a house, buying a new car, getting out of debt, saving for retirement, putting your kids through college, traveling, etc.) and finding ways to meet them.
9. Identification of spending patterns you may not have been aware of when you weren't tracking your spending.
10. Most importantly, internal motivation and a positive attitude!