 TITLE: How Budgeting Can Help You Improve Your Credit Score CONTENT: Additional Benefits of Having a Budget\n--------------------------------------\nBeyond helping boost your credit score, there are other perks to having a budget. Here are a few additional benefits:\n*   **It can help you reach financial goals faster.** A budget is so much more than a plan to ensure you pay bills on time and avoid overspending. It's also a tool you can use to help reach financial goals faster, like saving for retirement or for a down payment on a home or car.\n*   **It can help you create an emergency fund.** Many Americans don't have enough set aside to cover an unplanned expense of $400 or more. Emergency expenses can easily lead to more debt, and less financial stability. Budgeting makes it easier to build an emergency fund that can help protect you when the unexpected happens. You can budget the amount you want to save each month until your stash is fully funded with at least three to six months' worth of living expenses.\n*   **It can help you plan for retirement.** You may find building your nest egg to be quite the challenge without a budget, particularly if you're only making contributions if you have enough to do so after your other expenses. However, you can use a budget to determine how much you can realistically save for retirement each month and stick to the plan to hold yourself accountable.\n*   **It can help you stop living paycheck to paycheck.** If you always seem to run out of money before the next payday, a budget can help you get a handle on your expenses to avoid overspending. END