I am obsessed with budgeting & could blah blah blah about it all day long, but I'll try to restrain myself. I don't really like any of the books I've looked at myself - each one seems to have a really specific agenda or orientation about the RIGHT way to handle your money; I think they tend to be sort of value laden. There are two websites I like, though - Get Rich Slowly is a personal blog plus a great clearinghouse for personal finance info, and The Simple Dollar, which has a ton of basic how-to re: budgeting, saving, and frugality & also a lot of reviews of personal finance books (I find the author a little pompous, though).
Best tip for getting started: keep track of EVERYTHING you spend for a month. Once you know what you really spend money on, you'll know what you can change easily & what will take more effort. My other tip is figure out what works *for you* & stick with it, regardless of the advice you get; everyone has an opinion on using credit cards, debit cards, or cash only, for example, but none of them are inherently better - just depends on what keeps you on track.
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Date: 2007-06-21 05:45 pm (UTC)Best tip for getting started: keep track of EVERYTHING you spend for a month. Once you know what you really spend money on, you'll know what you can change easily & what will take more effort. My other tip is figure out what works *for you* & stick with it, regardless of the advice you get; everyone has an opinion on using credit cards, debit cards, or cash only, for example, but none of them are inherently better - just depends on what keeps you on track.