Implementing and sticking to a budget may be the best thing you can do for your financial life. You'll be amply rewarded for your efforts too. For starters, you'll know where your money goes and that can be revelatory! You may learn things about yourself you didn't previously realise, and right away you'll have some great ideas on how to improve your spending habits.

It may be strange, even uncomfortable, sticking to a budget at first, but as with all habits, it gets easier with time and practice. Just remember these following points:

It takes months to establish spending patterns

A period of two to three months is too short to establish any meaningful patterns of spending. Twelve months is a better time frame to examine your spending habits and help with your budgeting. This sounds horribly long, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. Just take it a month at a time, and before you know it, you'll have ample information you can use to draw up your budget.

Keep track of what you're spending

Starting a budget is all well and good, but if you don't keep track of what you're spending, it doesn't make much of a difference, does it? Everyone has his own preferred method for doing this. Some record every expense on a software program at the end of the day, while others keep a pocket notepad with them at all times to jot down expenditures. Find a method that suits you and stick to it.

Learn to expect the unexpected

Don't fret about getting thrown off track when something unexpected comes up. Unexpected expenses are, by their very nature, going to catch you unawares. People often get so discouraged by them that they scrap their entire budget. Make provisions for unexpected expenses by adding a miscellaneous expense item to your monthly budget projection. You should also set up an emergency fund to cover big-item surprises, such as unanticipated medical costs or retrenchment.

When faced with such unexpected expenses, cut down (substantially, if necessary) on discretionary expenses, such as expensive lunches, costly dry cleaning bills, and even your morning gourmet coffee. The easiest way to do this is to carry a notebook and record every single purchase made for at least a two-week period, including fast food, manicures, movie tickets, and so on. You'll be amazed at how much money you're spending on these seemingly innocuous expenses.

It's OK if you mess up once in a while

Everyone overspends once in a while (buying during a sale is still buying!). Don't be too hard on yourself if this happens. But don't throw out the budget either. Just go back to it and try again next month. Don't doom your budget to failure by approaching it like a New Year's resolution starvation diet. If you cut out all of life's pleasures, you'll be sure to find your hand right back in the cookie jar before long.

The real secret of a budget is that it is a tool to help you function better. The more information you have, the better decisions you will make. A budget can be your passport into a larger, more exciting world of opportunities. It can be your passport to financial freedom, growth and security. Budgeting is the foundation upon which all good financial decisions are made. You'll never regret doing it, but you'll certainly regret not doing it!