this is something that i should do as i always find myself short at the end of the month, i never seem to be able to stick to a budget.

any tips?

I know the feeling! The only tip that I've got is making your money visible, take cash to the shops, you tend to spend too much if you use cards, and go shopping with a list, dont buy any extras.

Keep a list of everything that you spend for atleast one full month. This will not only let you set a realistic budget, but it will help you see where your money goes.

When you make your budget, start with the must pays (morgage, utilites, savings). I think that savings is a must pay, even if you start small. Then spread out into the needs, wants, and desires (eating out, entertainment, gas, etc). In the end, you have to make your out put meet your income and sometimes you have to sacrifice to do it. NEVER sacrifice the must have's first.

Indeed, track your spending for a few weeks - you will be surprised how much is spent on impulse buys or non-essential items. Once you know where it goes you may be more inclined to keep some of it back to pay off debt or make a planned (read budgeted) purchase.

All of these are great suggestions. Another one I've heard about but rarely do myself (bad me) is to always pay yourself first by putting money into savings.

I don't budget. I should, but I dont.
I find that I know my limits and I know if I am overspending.

I do think budgeting is a great idea though, I just cant stick to it!

Try this. Take a small notebook around with you and document every penny you spend - from the newspaper you get in the morning with a latta to your gas purchases. Sit down and evaluate you spending habits. You may be very surprised where your money goes.

If you trully want to start a budget, you have to force yourself to re-evaluate your priorities and make sacrifices if need be to make ends meet.

We have several financial calculators that can help you plan your budget on our website in my footer.

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Great idea about the notebook. Most people would be surprised at the amount of money they spend on incidentals.

If you only give yourself a certain amount for those incidentals and only spend cash, you can control that spending by only keeping a certain amount of cash for those purchases.

Another great budgeting tip is to eat at home. People spend THOUSANDS of dollars on eating out. I make my husband a lunch to take to work with him every day. Last year, I was unable to do it and he blew threw money like there was no tomorrow.

My personal point of attack for budgeting is the shopping bill - I used to be quite undisciplined, and buying a treat here and a treat there could really mount up the weekly shopping bill.

Now I limit to essentials only, with only one desert treat per week - ice cream or cake to share with the kids - and I'm finding it to be really effective. Shaving £20/week from the food bill is an £80 saving per month, which is certainly significant.