 Once you bring home the bacon, you have to figure out how to slice it up. Without a budget, your risk is overspending on discretionary items and undersaving on important big tickets. The big thing is to really know the difference between your needs and your wants. Last factor in your short, long-term savings goals, such as emergency fund, retirement kitty, and if you ever expect to settle down and buy a house, you should probably start saving for the down payment as soon as possible. All right, here's where I disagree a little bit here.