I’m sure that most of us have been in this situation before. You get your paycheck or another lump sum of money, go out a few times, buy a few things, and after a brief period of time you realize that the money is all gone. Having seemingly vanished into thin air, you think to yourself, “where did all that money go?” You look back over the expenses you incurred and start adding them up. They didn’t seem like that much at the time, but cumulatively, they take their toll on your wallet.

This classic example illustrates why budgeting is so important. All too often, people make a lot of little expenditures thinking that they can afford them, only to have trouble paying the bill later. One way to avoid this common pitfall is to use personal budgeting software. These applications are designed to help you keep track of your income and expenses so that you can visualize and better understand where all of your money goes. Unlike many of the complexities using spreadsheet programs, personal budgeting software is typically much more intuitive and can offer a host of other features. Arguably the best budgeting programs use a system called “zero-sum” budgeting, which means that every dollar is assigned a job – whether it be saving money for retirement or paying down debt. This helps you to not only keep track of expenses, but also specifically allocate money for saving or spending.

While many are skeptical of the power of personal budgeting software, it’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of people are helped by it. In fact, a recent survey of users of a popular budgeting application found that it took 31 days after using the software, on average, to pay down $500 of debt. Think about what you could do if you reduced your credit card bills or student debt by $500 or more every month. Or, even if you’re not in debt, think about how quickly that could help pay for a vacation, help with a retirement goal, or even subsidize your or a child’s college tuition. Indeed, no matter what financial situation you’re in, you can’t afford not to use personal budgeting software!

Creating a budget is not just for married couples, but is important for teens as well. Start with a good personal budgeting software program while you’re young and it will help you immensely as you go through life. We highly recommend You Need A Budget (YNAB) to help you take control of your spending and to put every dollar to work for you. Try it Free for 7 days, and if you purchase it, take a 10% discount by entering crownfinancial in the box. Don’t delay, get the best personal budgeting software now.

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