MONEY SMARTS: Know your cash flow

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We can't stress enough how critical it is to know how much money you have coming in and going out.

The very first step of budgeting is figuring out how much money you have coming in every month. This number is the magic number. You absolutely cannot spend more than this. Capiche? Good.

Equally important is knowing how much money you're spending. Make a list of everything you actually need each month and calculate what that's costing you.

Voila, these numbers (along with a 5-10% cushion + your monthly savings) make up your monthly living expense.