Give yourself a certain, defined amount you can spend for every expense you have.

If you do that, you’ll have no temptation to spend over your budget. Without setting up a specific amount for clothes, housewares, entertainment, etc., you can lose track, telling yourself things like, “Hey, it’s only $10. Sure I can afford it.” The problem is that those spur-of-the-moment $10 expenditures can really add up. Avoid having to raid another account to pay the bills by allocating certain amounts for every specific category. Then, you’ll always know whether or not you have enough money for that whirlwind purchase.