Last month I bit the bullet and decided to be a bit more proactive about my spending, budgeting, and saving. Part of the problem is that I need to save more money for my emergency fund and I am embarrassed with 2013 spending.  With the likelihood that my health insurance deductible will be much higher, a larger emergency fund is required. After analyzing my Amazon spending for 2013, I can see that I can make a major improvement in my spending by controlling my Amazon spending. With the recent problems with credit card theft it is in my best interest to watch my credit card expenses very closely. The solution to these problems is to give every dollar a name and monitor my progress with Quicken 2014. As I enter my second month on the system I can say that my budget is reasonable and balanced. The biggest psychological boost comes from monitoring the accounts frequently and seeing that you are winning.