'The Easy Budget' now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes

"The Easy Budget: How to Always Have the Money You Need" e-book by Owen Tew is now available on Amazon.com , Barnes & Noble.com and iTunes.*

Just click on the links above or the icon on the upper right of this page to whichever online store you'd like to purchase from and you'll be on your way to better budgeting!

And you can still buy the book on Lulu.com.

You should follow "The Easy Budget" on Facebook here.

*You must be using an iPad, iPod or iPod Touch to find the ebook on iTunes. To read it on a PC or Mac laptop or desktop computer, buy it from Barnes and Noble. Also the Easy Budget app on iTunes is not affiliated with "The Easy Budget" ebook.

Saving money, doing more

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rileyroxx/ / CC BY 2.0

During the recession, we're saving money while doing more with our friends and family, reports The New York Times. Let's keep it up after the economy rebounds.

Financial literacy tips

http://www.flickr.com/photos/betsssssy/ / CC BY 2.0

College students are learning financial literacy, reports The Los Angeles Times. Even if you've already graduated -- or never went to college at all -- it's not too late. And The Easy Budget is one step toward achieving that goal. Download your copy for just $3.50 today.

10 ways to save money

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinish/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

SmartMoney.com offers 10 ways to save money in 2010, and that makes your Easy Budget even easier. Check out their list here.

Keep up with 'lost' money in your budget

Most unaccounted for cash is spent on groceries.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiderpop/ / CC BY 2.0

About $21 per week in cash spending can't be accounted for by the average American, says a survey commissioned by Visa.
Most of the 1,000 adults surveyed couldn't account for money spent buying groceries. Others couldn't account for money spent during a night on the town and dining out.

Worldwide, people don't know where 20 percent of their cash purchases went.

In younger adults 18-24, $2,500 is unaccounted for per year in the U.S. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Since the poll was commissioned by Visa, and only unaccounted for cash purchases were considered, it's likely Visa hopes we'll start putting more purchases on their credit cards. But another way to keep from losing track of these purchases is by using The Easy Budget. It works whether you're spending cash, debit, credit or check.

What do you do with found money?

How you budget found money is, of course, up to you -- and it depends somewhat on how much it is. Ten dollars in your Christmas card from grandma can probably be put into Miscellaneous or Entertainment. It would seem silly to divvy up such a small amount; you'd have only tiny amounts in each category. A larger amount, however, might be divided into your various categories -- or put into savings.

If the money is something you'll have to report for taxes, don't forget to take out about a third of it to pay them. Put it in an interest-bearing account to make more money while you're waiting to pay the IRS.

The exception to splitting a large amount of found money into your various categories would be a need to make a major purchase, such as a car. In such a case, use the found money to buy the needed item, and if a large amount is left over, spread it over your budget or save the rest.

Creative Commons photo courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51486173@N00/223052548

Why do you have zero in Miscellaneous?

Q. I noticed in the picture of your own budget in the e-book that you dedicate zero dollars to the Miscellaneous category, and you also have a category labeled Biz that has zero dollars even though you have money in those categories. Why is that?

A. My own Miscellaneous comes out different from week to week because some of the monthly bills I pay come from that category. Some of those bills are irregular, making my budget come out wrong. I just put zero there, and count things out once I've been to the bank. Using this method, I end up with more in my pocket than my budget shows, so I just add however much extra money I have to Miscellaneous.

As to the Biz category, I take 10 percent of any money I make from freelancing and re-invest it there. Since I don't take any of the money from my regular paycheck for that category, it says "0" at the top.