this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

I often hear people say that they hate living on a budget.  Yes, it would be really nice to have so much money that I didn't have to keep close tabs on where it all goes, but I like knowing where my money goes.  People seem to get annoyed when they can't do something and tend to blame the budget.  It's not the budget's fault.  The budget is not some evil entity that dictates where your money goes.  You decide where the money goes. Yes, it's no fun when there isn't enough money to do what you want, but chances are it's because of the budget that you know that and won't accidentally come up short because you thought there was enough money.  Using a budget can be a great tool to help you ultimately save up for the things you want.