First, determine how much money you have coming in, all of it, the money from dog walking, bartending, changing your neighbor’s diaper (that’s a real man’s work right there), and even that cash you guilt-tripped your mom into giving you. Just remember that if your job doesn’t take out money for taxes, you need to budget for that too.

Then, add up all the things you need to pay for the month like your water bill, rent, loan payments, etc. It’s things that you can’t live without and only the things you can’t live without. Buying food is necessary. Eating out isn’t. The cable doesn’t count either. (I know, right? How am I supposed to survive without the next episode of NCIS?!)

You need to understand the difference between need and want. It’s impossible to save money once everything becomes a need. Can you physically not live without it? Will you actually wither and die? I’m not saying you have to cut all your wants out, just separate them. By separating your expenses into categories, you can see where you are spending your money and what can be cut. If your rent is too much, you might want to find a new place when the lease ends. If you spend $500 on food, you might want to cut down on the organic.

When you make your budget, you might want to add an emergency fund. For example, say a monkey jumps into your car (monkey nooooo!), and you end up crashing it (crap). A car is usually a necessary expense. You need to get it fixed, but hopefully crashing your car is not a monthly expense. This budget line can include everything from a cockroach invasion to E.R trips.

Now prioritize the things you want to spend your money on from most to least important. Once you have determined all the immovable expenses, you are freer to spend your money as you choose with full understanding of everything you are doing. Allot for everything from high speed internet to going out for the month. By placing what you want the most first, you can figure out where you can work some number magic to get what you want. [Note: this is not like finger magic.] Your novel fund might disappear in the face of saving for a new car, or maybe DVDs beat out food. It’s about balancing things out.

Use a budget to get what you want out of it and assist you in still having money at the end of the month. This can help you highlight what’s important and get rid of those extra little expenses that aren’t.