Write down how much comes in, and where it goes out. Starting a successful budget acknowledges where you are right now. This list of common categories will get you thinking about places money goes where you may not remember right off. Fill it out and see where your money is going now, before you figure out where it should go.

Download the Income and Expense List from the team at Crown Financial Ministries. (Requires Adobe Reader).

The Deductive or "Wishful Thinking" Approach to Spending

This method of spending operates from a philosophy of what we should be able to spend. The basis for comparison for what we should be able to buy may be based upon what others in similar economic positions are able to do, upon what our family-of-origin was able to buy, or upon what we think we deserve to be able to purchase. Often we simply feel like spending--impulse buying. The common thread in this approach is that spending is not based upon what is actually available, but upon what should be available, or upon what we wish were available. Unfortunately because of easy credit, much which we can't afford is purchasable. Satan may trick us into believing lies, being the father of lies (John 8:44).

10 steps to help you get started on budgeting.

1. Pray for wisdom, together if married (James 1:5), and for self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23). If we cannot control our spending, this is a spiritual problem.