I don't write a budget. I find that its much like a diet. One self indulgent splurge and you are back at square one. The budget/diet itself tends to be the cause of that self indulgent splurge because it feels so restrictive, and you need to feel freedom.

When the money comes in, I pay by priority. What I NEED is prioritised over what I want. When you have recognised exactly what you need it starts making things much easier. I *need* the internet for my DHs business. I *want* pay tv. You can imagine which bill gets paid first if I can only do one.

It works much more extensivly to that too. I *need* a mobile phone. I *don't* need it to take photos. I - and my sister - go into more detail on this on my mothers "You can make an Impact" blog. But its and extremely liberating philsophy. I feel chuffed when I buy a $12 DVD at the big movie sales, because its not something I needed, its something I wanted.