Some of the biggest budget busters are those expenses that pop up out of virtually nowhere. A great way to deal with that is to learn to "expect the unexpected." What that means is to allow for those things in your budget. Most newbies to budgeting forget to include savings as a line item or they put it at the very bottom. If your savings is determined by what is "left over" at the end of the month you will never build an emergency savings account which is designed to handle those unexpected bills. Another suggestion would be to minimize surprises by looking ahead. If you have bills that are paid quarterly, semi-annually etc., then plan for those by setting aside enough money in your budget each month to make sure you have enough to pay the bill when it comes due.
