Managing your money, planning your finances and making hard spending choices can be a joy or a battle with couples.

Getting your budget into fighting shape can take months. Each day, week and month as you begin to tweak your budget and its categories you'll be faced with choices.

What goes where and how much to allocate.

My wife is great, she is very organized and works well from a list. So each time we walk into the store she knows what she wants - it's on the list.

While at the grocery store today my wife and I were buying items for this week's breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus extras for our holiday guest which will be showing up.

She worked from her shopping list. I don't know why but today I looked around as we walked up and down the isles to catch a glimpse of "who" was using a list for their buying descisions.

It was somewhat amusing, yet at the same time sad. I'll bet you could easily pick out the families with financial problems. They were the ones pushing a cart up and down the isle with no idea what they want ( young adults fall into this category). Or it's the mom with kids in the basket asking for this and that. Mom fills up the cart paying no attention to a list.

Do you shop from a list? Buying at the grocery store may be an indicator of the way you manage the other financial aspects of your life.

To get a financial control by using a budget you must fight impulse spending. Try it. Next time you go to the grocery start write down all the items you want and ONLY BUY what is on the list.

Doing that can get you started on two things. Planning purchases and shopping from a list. Now stop the urge spend without planning and stick to a budget.