Over the years, I’ve talked to many people who have just given up on budgeting for any number of reasons. Some of them claim it’s too complicated, others have had a bad experience with a particular budgeting system and for many, it’s just the dread of being limited in how you spend your money that scares them away from setting a budget and sticking to it.

The real trick is budgeting realistically. I think this is what trips people up more often than anything else.

What does it mean to budget realistically? To set goals for yourself that are attainable and sustainable. Sure, you’d save a lot of money if you only spent $100 on groceries every month and only bought one tank of gas—that looks great on paper. But it is practical? Depending on your lifestyle, probably not. In my experience, the best ways to actually budget in a usable way are:

1. Leave room for the “other” stuff
   Sometimes an unexpected expense comes up—or just dinner with an old friend at a restaurant across town. Whatever it may be, it’s good to leave a little bit of your monthly budget un-assigned so you can have a little wiggle room. This will prevent you from feeling “trapped” by your budget and will reduce your risk of going over budget.
2. Make your budget flexible
   You spent less on gas this month than usual? Great! Move that extra money over to your grocery budget because you’ll be having family over for dinner next week. Money you don’t spend doesn’t need to stay in a single category as long as it’s unspent. Use it where you need it. Adjust next month’s budget if it looks like the difference will be a long-term one.
3. Base your budget on you
   Don’t base the amount you budget on anything other than your own needs, wants and habits. Budgeting software and systems will try to tell you what you should spend, but you’re going to be better off if you take into account what you actually do. You usually spend $100 on eating out each month? That might be a place to save—but it’s going to be hard to completely change your lifestyle on demand. Back it down to $90 next month. See if you can stick to that. But don’t set your restaurant budget to $0 because someone said that’s what every budget has to look like.

One of the biggest spending sprees of the year happens right before the holiday season—gifts are purchased, travel plans paid for and breaks from work are signed off on. It seems that every year, many families face their worst financial situation right after the holiday season—which is not the best way to head into the new year. How can you recover and get back on track? While not easy, it’s also not impossible. These tips might be helpful, depending on your situation.

1. Tax returns
   If you’re expecting a good tax return, file early so your check will arrive before the spring tax return rush. This income is great because it’s not part of your regular income and can be used to pay off holiday credit card balances.
2. Cut back
   Perhaps the most obvious—but most effective—solution any time you’re overbudget and short on cash. Look at places to cut back on spending and find ways to make it happen, whether that means using coupons or giving up an optional expense (like Netflix, recycling pickup or your morning coffee) for a couple months.
3. Take advantage of post-holiday sales
   After the holidays are over, there are usually sales. Find out if essentials are on sale and stock up at low costs. This might be discounts on certain food products or winter-gear like scarves and mittens.
4. Start budgeting for next year
   Try to keep yourself out of the same mess next year by setting aside money throughout the year and planning big holiday purchases in advance. The sooner your gifting list is made, the sooner you can start watching for good deals on expensive items. Spreading holiday costs out makes paying for them more manageable than having a huge credit card debt as you start the new year.

Feel like Scrooge when you stick to your budget during the holidays? You’re not alone. But, the truth is, budgets are still important and you don’t have to choose between being generous and avoiding credit debt or other financial disasters this season. Here are some tips to keep the gifts flowing and the checking accounts bountiful.

1. Opt out of gift exchanges
   We all have those gift swaps at work and amongst extended families where everyone draws a name and gives a gift. Because these are so impersonal, it’s not an offense to simply opt out before the names get drawn. Because the drawing (and gift) is impersonal, no one will be offended because no one will know that they’re the ones who didn’t get your gift. These gifts often feel like a burden to give and you hardly ever receive a worthwhile gift in return.
2. Cut back on normal spending
   Use this month’s budget as an opportunity to tighten your belt so you’ll have a little extra to spend on others. Giving up a morning latte or rental movies for a month can mean an $10 or $20 giftcard for someone else.
3. Give yourself a little gift
   You can help mitigate the costs of holiday gift shopping by buying giftcards to give (or to use for buying gifts at other stores!) at a retailer where you earn some sort of perk or reward for every dollar you spend. Whether this is your grocery store or a credit card rewards program, there’s no reason you can’t get a little kickback for spending on others.
4. Give gifts they’ll use (and don’t be afraid to ask!)
   The biggest waste of money is giving someone something that they won’t appreciate or find useful. Often I find myself overcompensating in price or quantity because I feel the gift I’m buying is a little impersonal. If you’re not sure what to get someone, ask them what they need or what kind of gifts they enjoy receiving. Often they’ll want something less expensive than that huge gaudy gift-basket and you can save a little pocket change at the same time.

Did you know that you could improve your fuel efficiency by taking care of your car and driving differently? Some simple changes in your routine can make all the difference.

Check your tires
Low tire inflation can really reduce your fuel efficiency and it’s awfully easy to fix. I check my tire pressure every time I get gas so I can make sure that my tires are meeting the recommended PPI (a measurement of air pressure inside your tires) and all tires are even. If your tires are underinflated or uneven, invest the 25 cents in running the air pump at the gas station. You may also need to purchase a tire gauge to check the pressure, though many air pumps include these on the nozzle.

Change your oil
Keeping your engine in good working order is a crucial part of maintaining good fuel efficiency. This includes getting your oil changed recently, but also includes other types of routine maintenance in your engine, brakes and transmission.

Choose your gears
Some of us still drive manual transmissions so we can milk the very last drop out of every tank of gas. For those of you who don’t, you still have some control over how smoothly and efficiency your engine is running. Most automatic transmissions have a feature called “overdrive” with is essentially the highest available gear in your set. When you’re cruising on the highway, generally above 50 mph or so, kick overdrive (sometimes represented on the gear shift as “O/D”) into action to get even better fuel efficiency. Just make sure to turn it off when you slow down if your car doesn’t do so automatically, otherwise you’ll reverse all the good it did by driving in too high a gear on slower roads.

Chart your course
Certain routes will use more fuel than others. Highways are more efficient than a constant stop/start grid typical of suburban areas. Every time you have to accelerate from a start or brake to slow the car down, you’re wasting gas. It’s obvious why highways are better in this regard. However, highways often demand that you go faster than is optimal for your engine. Most cars run most efficiently somewhere between 40 mph and 55 mph depending on the size of the engine. If you can find a back road with few stops that allows you to go this speed instead of highway speed, you may be able to save a substantial amount of fuel.

Mint on the iPhone

Everybody loves a good app. But some apps can help you control you spending, save money and shop better! These apps are among my favorites because it turns budgeting and finance management into a little bit of a game.

These are my favorite apps for tracking, saving and occasionally spending money:

Mint
I budget using Mint.com, a free budgeting program that integrates with your banking accounts. I love their mobile app because it lets me track my budgets, see how much I have left to spend in certain areas and it notifies me with a gentle message if I’m overbudget or have a low balance in an account.

Shopkick
Shopkick is the coolest. By walking into stores, scanning certain barcodes and reading ads for your favorite retailers, you get points which can be redeemed for gift cards or given to charity. It’s also kind of fun!

GasBuddy
It tracks where you are and when your tank is running low you can look at gas prices near you on a map. It’s a great way to make sure you getting a good price on gas or find the nearest chain where you can use your reward points.

Amazon
Using Amazon’s app you can scan barcodes in stores to make sure you’re getting the best price and also browse and order items. It’s handy and saves me money occasionally when I’m out shopping.

Groupon
If you’ve ever used Groupon, you know why I love it. You can get really deep discounts on local retailers and services. Rather than printing out the coupon, Groupon has a great app where retailers can scan your iPhone screen or copy down a code and then mark the deal as used immediately.

Priceline
I stumbled across this one while visiting relatives in Missouri last year. We needed a hotel room to avoid some bad weather and didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg. We ended up getting a four star hotel across from the St. Louis Arch for less than we were poised to pay at the Day’s Inn 30 miles outside the city. The only caveat with this one: when you start it up, it plays the “Priceline Negotiator!” jingle really loudly.

How do you keep track of your personal spending and saving? Here are some of the top ways that Americans are choosing to track their finances and budget their lives.

Software
There’s several different budgeting and finance management packages out there for installation on your home computer or laptop. These are generally well-designed by experts and offer advice along with the charts and tables that show you your own spending habits.  The downside of a software-budgeted life is that your budget is generally confined to your home computer or laptop with no opportunity for mobile integration or at-work access. Additionally, these software packages have a pretty step learning curve and are an expensive investment.

Online
Online management is the up-and-coming way to keep track of your finances. With services like mint.com offering free budget management with minimal advertising interference, the personal budgeting market has been revolutionized. These online budgeting systems allow for seamless integration across all of your web-accessible devices and are constantly up to date. The downside to the free services is that you’re likely to see advertising for financial services that may or may not be prudent choices, so the consumer needs to be a little wary. Then again, sometimes the advertisements offer legitimate financial planning advice (like getting a retirement account, choosing a credit card with more rewards or cutting spending on entertainment) that should be followed. A common-sense savvy user should have no trouble.

Cash
Some financial management systems use pre-categorized cash in envelops to control and track spending on a month-to-month basis. While this is probably the easiest to stick to (when you’re out, you’re out.) it is hardly the most advisable. Why? When money is in envelopes in your purse or car, it is neither secure nor earning interest, both of which would be true if it were in a bank. Additionally, these types of budgeting systems often require getting rid of all credit cards. For some people with significant credit card debt, this is a wise choice, but for most, credit cards offer an opportunity to build your credit while earning cash back, reward points or miles on purchases. If your envelope of money gets stolen and spent, it won’t be returned to you, but many credit cards and banks offer fraud protection programs that do just that.