Between the federal budget and the Washington state budget talks, there is no shortage of headlines about budgets these days. Whether or not we agree with the decisions being made in the two Washingtons, there’s one thing we should all agree on – budgets are useful! Most important to our day-to-day lives though aren’t the million, billion, and trillion dollar budgets of the governments, but instead our personal spending plans.

Recently, Alaska Airlines Magazine had an article called “Savings Plan” by M. Sharon Baker (page 149). Baker writes about techniques, websites and applications that help individuals squeeze a little more money out of their paychecks. In the article our colleague made the following point about why it’s important for people to fully understand what they are spending their money on:

“It’s important for people to be clear about where their money is going, for three main reasons: financial efficiency, emotional security and progress towards goals. . . financial efficiency is about how budgeting helps you trim the fat. However, that isn’t always an easy process…”

We’ve written on the topic of how technology can not only ease the budgeting process, but actually make it a fun experience. “Finding Joy in Categorizing Expenses” talks about how budgeting applications are wonderful teaching tools for parents to use with their children.

Whatever tools you rely on, budgeting provides clarity which can help you make better financial decisions.