For many people, one of the hardest things to do is know how to function in moderation, especially when it comes to their money. In a world where it’s so easy to buy things on credit and blur the lines between what you want and what you need, it’s become much harder for a lot of people to effectively budget their money and have smart financial priorities. If this is something you’ve been struggling with, here are three tips that just might help to make you better about budgeting your money.

Account For Everything

In order to have a budget that will function for you, you first have to know how much money you’re bringing in each month and how much money you have going out each month. For most people, it’s relatively easy to know how much money you’re making. However, knowing how much you’re spending and on what can be more challenging to nail down. When you’re trying to come up with these numbers, Money.com advises that you account for everything, even the little things, when calculating your expenses. This should even mean accounting for sales tax, which can be high in some instances. Once you’re able to have an accurate and detailed account of how much you’re spending, or should be spending, each month, you’ll be able to make a more effective budget for yourself.

Find A Budgeting Tool That Works For You

While it’s perfectly possible for you to keep track of your budget and your finances on your own, there are so many tools out there that make budgeting so much easier than it’s ever been before. And although you might have friends or family members who swear by a certain tool or app that they use, Rob Berger, a contributor to Forbes.com, advises that you sample a few until you’re able to find the tool that works best for you. The way you think and your financial state is likely different from those that you associate with, so you may prefer a different tool than others. As long as the tool makes sense to you and works for keeping your aware of where your money’s going, it’s a good budgeting tool.

Automate As Much Of Your Finances As You Can

Part of what can make budgeting so hard is having to keep track of where your money’s going and spending that money on the right things and at the right times. One way you can solve these issues, according to David Weliver, a contributor to Money Under 30, is to automate as much of your finances as you can. If you can set up an automatic bill payment for some of your monthly expenses, do it. If you can transfer money into your savings accounts without having to think about it each month, the chances are much higher that you’ll save that money rather than spending it on things you shouldn’t.

To help you stop your budgeting struggles, consider using the tips mentioned above to make budgeting easier for you going forward.