We saw a couple of posts ago a video by Dave Ramsey on the 7 Baby Steps to becoming financially independent.  I've been talking with a lot of people about saving $1000 recently and most of them tell me the same thing:  I don't have any money.  Now, considering I know they work full-time I know that's not true, especially since I'm only talking to them about saving $25/mo (I've been saving $25/mo or more since I was 17 and the minimum wage was only $5.90/hr).  The truth is, they don't know where to find the $25/mo because they aren't monitoring their spending.  In the following video financial planner, Lamont Stewart, explains the basics about how to make a budget.  Bonus points if you can find the math error.
I'll finish off the post with one quick and easy tip I heard somewhere for setting up a budget:  Live and spend normally for a month, but save every receipt in a shoe box.  At the end of the month divide all of the expenditures into the various categories Lamont wrote on the white board.  These should be your starting amounts for your budget.  Now you can adjust accordingly to make a balanced budget (i.e., "positive cash flow").



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