Budgeting

Budgeting is no fun. It means you have to watch out for  your spending and making sure you don't go over.  Start slow, I find that when I do an extreme budget I get depressed for going over my limit and deprived because I couldn't do or buy what I want to. How I make it fun is to make it a challenge. For example, challenge your self to see how fast you can save an emergency fund of $5000. When you want to achieve a goal as fast as you can, you'll find creative ways to get there. A challenge makes things exciting.
The husband and I just started a $25 a week grocery challenge.  Basically, we can only spend $25 on grocery a week. This way, we use up all the foods I've stocked up ( from couponing days)  and also find creative ways to make different meals out of one food. I bought a 2 LB package of ground beef (on sale for $5); I can use it for my dumpling, spaghetti sauce and tacos ( which I'll have tonight). By not spending the usual $50 a week on grocery, the left over $25 can go into our emergency fund. If we keep it up for 1 month, we'll have $100 extra.