The best way to ensure you build and maintain good credit is to live within your means. Likewise, creating and carefully following a budget also can be instrumental in successfully owning a home. Knowing your monthly budget not only will help you calculate how much you can afford to spend on any big ticket item, such as a car or a home, but it can be extremely useful in helping you set both short-term and long-term financial goals. Wise budgeting is a discipline that could pay big dividends during both times of economic opportunity, as well as downturns. The information provided in this Budgeting Section is not intended as personalized investment advice or financial planning advice. Rather, it is intended only to provide general information on budgeting and covers basic information about: