You can add up to your savings by doing little things that can help you: save lunch and coupon money, take advantage of sales, saving your loose change, and being willing to compromise especially when there are other bills that call for your attention and money. Bankruptcy could be your way out if you have exhausted every single option you had. You will also see the incoming and outgoing of cash that occur weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. You will understand if your expenses are too high and your savings are too low to meet your financial needs that allows you live comfortably. From this initial picture, you can then forecast your expenses for the coming year. Companies can easily collect, organize, document, tabulate and report on details of the budget. The budget is thereby easily reviewed, negotiated, modified and managed for approval and implementation. Budgeting software simplifies spread sheets so you know exactly how much you have money left to spend. That is, funding would have a base at zero. A division of that organization would have to show why its funding effectively aids the company towards its financial goals. Zero based budgeting is especially recommended for government budgets because expenses can easily run out of control it if is automatically assumed what was spent last year must be spent this year. The Australian National Audit Office has identified the advantages of activity based budgeting: The Advantages - Output costs are supported by a schedule of costed activities - Opportunities to examine work processes - Identifies non value-adding activities that can be eliminated - Basis of a performance measurement system and direct link between strategic goals and operational realities - Enables cost profiles to be managed - Accurate costing data for operational management - Costs are transparent, understandable and actionable Disadvantages - Activity definition may become too detailed and the model may become too complex and difficult to maintain - Underestimation of the task of collecting activity driver data - Implementation may be considered a financial management fad and there is insufficient commitment from operational managers Activity Based Budgeting Disadvantages - Usually requires buying Activity Based Budgeting software - Requires training of all managers including budgeting department - Requires people to really understand what drives their budget - Eliminates excuse that activity volume changed because it makes visible volume changes - Requires everyone to collect or estimate activity volume By understanding how resources are transformed into products or services, and byfocusing on the cost of activities, activity based budgeting helps an organisation to obtain a greaterunderstanding of how costs behave in their organization and which activities create significant amounts of cost. But the funny thing with this is that these same people who criticize budgeting and planning fail to take a look at retirees who splurge themselves during their fruitful years. Have they wondered what became of these retirees after years of no budgeting and planning? Are they blissfully spending their retirement at the Bahamas or at the fine, white sand beaches of Boracay?