Budgeting Software

I've been harping about getting on a budget for some time. For those who would like to start on a budget, there's a link at the bottom of the blog to use Dave Ramsey's starter version of his Gazelle budgeting software. Enjoy.

Can't Plan To Use What You Don't Have

After the last entry on planning your cash flow, some of you might be thinking, "That's great, but I've got too much month at the end of the money! In fact, I can't even pay everyone!" For those of you, I know how that feels. I've been there. In fact, if anyone needs to have a budget, it's you!
First, you need to prioritize who gets what out of your money. The top priorities are food, shelter, utilities, clothing and transportation. Don't eat every other day to make sure Discover gets paid. Don't get behind on your rent or mortgage to stay current with your student loan.
Once you take care of the top priorities, then you pay off the unsecured debts with what you have left. This can be handled a couple of different ways. One is to prorate your payments based upon what remains. Another is to simply make a list of who you owe. Just pay people until the money runs out. Those remaining will get placed at the top of next month's list. if you like working with forms, you can find some samples at daveramsey.com, as well as his books.
I would like to give you a couple of reminders. First, you are morally and legally obligated to pay legitimate debts.  This is not an option.
Second, if you are in collections, do not let collector's intimidate you. They cannot call whenever they want, say whatever they want, or threaten whatever they want. Study the Federal Fair Debt Collections Act, passed in 1977, the same year as the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This law states exactly what a collector can and cannot do.
Just stick with it and you will get out of this hole.