Learn what "pay yourself first" really means

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"Paying yourself first" is a way of ensuring that you save some money each month.

This is different than a typical budget where someone simply makes a list of income and expenses. If any money is left over (and too often, none is), that could be put aside in savings, but is more often spent. A typical budget looks like this:

• Typical Budget <Income> û <Expenses> = <Money left over for savings and paying off debt, if any>

  "Paying yourself first" means budgeting first for what you want to save, and then managing the rest of your money to pay off debt and cover expenses. Money's method of budgeting differs from the typical budgeting method:

• Money 99's Budget <Income> û <Savings> û <Debt payment> = <Money for expenses and non-essentials>

  Use the Budget Planner to walk through the right steps ù in the right order ù to set up your budget.

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  Play Money 99's Budgeting Philosophy video.

  Play the Creating a Budget video.

How do I set up a budget?