A budget is the backbone of financial success. As a matter of fact, it's extremely difficult to be successful financially without developing a realistic budget and sticking to it. Developing a budget is the easy part. It's the "sticking to a budget" part that most people have trouble with.

I've had many people tell me that establishing their budget was easy, but when it came to sticking to it for the long term, they simply lost interest in it very quickly. And lets face it, conforming to the constraints of a budget is no fun!

Having goals is a must if you truly wish to stick to a budget. When you think of goals, you probably look far into the future to your retirement. Therein lies the problem. When you're 20, it's difficult to imagine what you'll need to live on when you finally turn 65.

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