The Two Simple Things You Can Do to Live by a Budget NOW

If you're one of the very few people out there who doesn't have to confine themselves to a budget...consider yourself immensely blessed.
For the rest of us, it seems like money is getting tighter and tighter, just as prices are going higher and higher (ha! Love the word play).
Regardless of whether you're limiting yourself to pennies a day or thousands a month, there are two ridiculously easy things you can do to make sure you stick to your self-imposed (or rather, finance-imposed) budget -

Ridiculously Simple Step #1:
Put your budget on the fridge (or any other place that you won't be able to avoid seeing it multiple times a day).
Trust me, if you actually see your budget every day, it'll be so much easier to keep to it. Whether you use a spreadsheet or a napkin (and if you are using something that's meant to wipe your greasy fingers on, by the way, I highly suggest upgrading to something a little more sophisticated) to keep track of your finances, visually accounting to yourself each and every day will greatly improve your odds of budget success. You won't be able to deny, or feign ignorance regarding, where your money's going and if you're not quite on target.

Ridiculously Simple Step #2:
Be sure you're using credit cards for convenience only, not as a cash advance.
If you're using your credit card, you should be doing it because it's easier than writing a check, or you don't have the cash on you - NOT because you don't actually have the money yet. I'll say that again: If you're using your credit card, you should be doing it because it's easier than writing a check, or you don't have the cash on you - NOT because you don't actually have the money yet. If you don't let yourself get sucked into using your credit card irresponsibly, you won't run into credit card debt.
The best piece of advice I've ever received regarding this simple (but for some people still too complicated) idea is this - when you use your credit card, go home and record your purchase on your budget sheet or your check register or whatever it is that you use. That way, as far as your budget is concerned, that money has already been spent. Then, three weeks later when the bill for your credit card comes, where is the money you owe? It's in your checking account. So you write out the actual check, pay off the credit card, and start the new month with a beautifully refreshing, and guilt-alleviating, clean slate.

And that's how it is.