Early in my adult life and financial education, I worked full time while going to school full time. I was very familiar with experiencing “more month than monthly pay.” I couldn’t understand why I was rarely able to meet my monthly obligations because on paper I earned more income than I owed each month, especially considering I didn’t have a car, ate most meals at the restaurant I worked and held no credit cards. But after being fed up with being broke I set with my roommates to discuss the household finances, I found that our laziness and disregard for proper budgeting had put us further into debt and prevented us from improving our personal finances. Each time we paid utilities we either paid late or paid partially and consistently incurred late charges. We encountered the occasional disconnect (and reconnect) fees, all which were satisfied the same day and were surely preventable. Consequently, the utility companies required larger cash deposits…more money. Because we chose to simply “pay our bills” instead of prepare a budget, we had chosen to react rather than act in the best interest of our finances. Remember to set aside for what expenses you know are coming….create a real or mental account that pays utilities and pay a monthly average into the account for recurring expenses. Even inquire with service providers and creditors, if they provide a discount to set up a direct electronic pay/withdrawal with your account…if there isn’t a discount, ask for one and write a letter to suggest one.