No matter how much or how little money you have, you need to make the most of it. Budgeting is a good place to start. However, in order to be effective a budget needs to fit your financial reality; it needs to be flexible and it needs to be tied to a cash flow tracking system. With years of experience as a practicing certified public accountant, this author takes an action-oriented approach to personal financial management. She begins with a baseline assessment of financial position, then moves to financial goal setting. From there she tackles budgeting, income & expense tracking... and the all-important budget to actual comparison. Throughout the process, emphasis is placed on identifying and capturing regular and irregular income and expense items to more accurately reflect cash flow. One of the biggest complaints about traditional budgeting are the unpleasant surprises from occasional financial obligations that occur infrequently; and more often than not, are inadequately represented in the budget. This is one of the common challenges to financial stability, fully addressed in this practical guide to personal financial management.