<title>Learn ways to adjust or balance your budget (Balance Tips)</title>
<category>budgetplan</category>
<klink type="cncpt">Tell me about balancing my budget</klink>
</index>
<content>
<p>If you've exceeded either your budget as a whole or just certain spending limits, you can adjust your budget so that it will balance again. You can reallocate budgeted funds from one category to another. Or, you can add a one-time item to your budget.</p>
<ul>
<li><emph>Reallocate.</emph> When you reallocate funds between budget categories, you simply increase one category's spending limit and reduce another. For example, if you have exceeded your spending limit for Automobile: Gas, you can increase its spending limit by "borrowing" from another category, such as Food: Dining Out. You can also reallocate funds between budget periods. For example, you can reallocate from next month's budget for Automobile: Gas. <alink type="prcdr" href="Reallocatefundsbetweenbudgetcategories.xml"/></li>
<li><emph>Add a one time item</emph>. Sometimes, large irregular expenses such as a car insurance bill can throw off a budget. If you want your budget to accommodate such an expense (or an irregular income item, such as a bonus), you can add a one-time item. For example, if you know that your car insurance bill will be due this month, you can add it to your budget. <alink type="prcdr" href="Addaonetimeitemtoabudget.xml"/></li>
