Many people throw around the word “budget” with reckless abandon. They see this as a simple word and a simple part of life. But of course, this is not always the case. There are a lot of details that go into a budget. When setting up your budget you need to know what to include, what to leave out, and what to pay the most attention to.

Here are three basics that need to be included in every budget:

1. Income. This is the number one detail of a budget, and you need to make sure it is 100 percent accurate. Every decision you make will be based off of this number. Remember to include any and all income from both you and your spouse.

2. Expenses. Budgeting would be simple with no expense column, but this is not realistic no matter how good you are with your money. When devising your budget, more particularly your expenses, be sure to have a list of those that are fixed and variable. With two categories it is easier to more accurately predict your regular monthly expenses.

3. Savings. Many people don’t think about saving money when planning a budget. Instead, they focus solely on income and expenses and then go from there. The difference between what you earn and what you spend can be saved. For example, if your income is $5k and your expenses are $4k you have an extra thousand dollars each month. This can be used in many ways, including savings.

One last point: be sure to keep your budget either on paper or through a computer program. Believe it or not, many people say they don’t need to write out their budget. Instead, “it is in their mind.” It is better to have your budget in front of you than to try and remember your income, expenses, savings, etc.

All in all, these basics show you what goes into a budget as well how this will help you to get started.