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Become the Captain of Your Financial Ship
掌控自己的財政
How would you like to be in command of your finances—never be in debt again, live free of financial pressure, and retire comfortably when that day arrives? This is possible for each of you, but it will require intentional effort.
你覺得自己掌握自己的財政怎么樣——不再負債，不再有經濟壓力，安享晚年？這對所有人都是有可能的，但需要格外努力。
If you sincerely want to be Captain of your Financial Ship, today’s lesson will emphasize three crucial things you must do: put together a budget, track your expenses, and commit to spending less than you earn.
如果你真的想控制自己的經濟，本課將教給你必須做的三件重要的事：組合預算，記錄花費，花錢時量力而行。
When we do not track our expenses, we actually forfeit control of our Financial Ship. The reason is simple: when we don’t have a clear picture of where our money is going, it’s like being on a ship with a leak that prevents us from navigating toward our financial goals. Benjamin Franklin said it better:
如果你對你的花費不做記錄，那你就是去對自己經濟的控制了。原因很簡單：如果我們連自己的錢花在哪了都不知道，我們在實現經濟目標的路上就會迷失方向。本杰明·富蘭克林有一句話總結得更好：
“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”
“小小開支不可隨意，小小漏洞會沉大船。”
Get in Touch With Your Inner Accountant
弄清自己內心的經濟計劃
No doubt, this is not the first time you’ve heard about the importance of budgeting to help keep track of expenses, but perhaps you’ve procrastinated. If you will just take time now to set up a budget, you will quickly discover that the benefits are worth the effort you put forth each month. With a budget, you will now be able to:
毫無疑問，這肯定不是你第一次聽說預算對于記錄花費的重要性，但你可能遲遲未行動。如果你現在開始著手進行預算，你很快就會發(fā)現它的好處，值得你每月都花點時間在上面。有了預算，你就能夠：
Control how your money is spent, saved, and invested
控制花錢，存錢和投資方式 ；
Understand where you money is going; eliminate surprises
知道錢花在了什么地方，免得讓自己大吃一驚；
Know what you can and cannot afford
知道自己的經濟能力；
Practice important self-control and personal accountability
有更強的自控力和責任感；
Compare your spending to a previous period of time to measure progress
與上次相比，找出進步；
Stay out of debt
遠離債務困擾。
If you wish to get out or stay out of debt, you must learn to live within your means. A budget that includes tracking your expenses is one of the first and easiest steps towards not spending more money than you make each month.
如果你不想負債，那就必須把花費控制住預算范圍內。包含花費記錄的預算是最早也最容易讓你控制花費的其中一種方式。
Avoid Being Just Another Statistic
不要成為下一個
It’s critical to understand that operating a budget is at the core of your financial progress. It will certainly help keep you from being a part of these statistics:
你要明白很重要的一點：實行預算是提高你經濟能力的核心。這肯定有助于讓你避免成為下面數據中的一個：
57% of households do not have a budget
57%的家庭沒有預算；
61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, up from 49% last year and 43% in 2007
61%的美國人都是月光族，這一數據與去年和2007年相比分別上升了12%和18%；
Bankruptcy filings. In 2009 there were approximately 5,900 bankruptcy filings a day.
破產申請，2009年日均大約5900項破產申請紀錄；
Disturbed marriage or divorce. Money is consistently ranked as one of the top three reasons for arguments among married couples
破裂的婚姻或離婚，經濟狀況是造成夫妻爭吵的主要原因之一。
What’s Holding You Back?
你在害怕什么？
One of the concerns that many people have about budgeting is that a budget holds us accountable. But if we spend more than we said we would on a particular category (like food or entertainment), it doesn’t mean we have failed, it simply alerts us to the fact that we need to adjust our budget.
許多人擔心會被預算束縛，但是如果我們是因為一些特殊花費（如食物或者娛樂活動等）超出預算，這并不意味著我們執(zhí)行的失敗，而只是一個提醒，告訴我們是該調整預算的時候了。
