Facing the truth: five money lies sabotaging your budget

Michelle Singletary outlines five common financial fibs people tell themselves—having a budget you don’t track, an emergency fund you raid, believing credit cards curb spending, underestimating dining-out costs, and blaming perpetual ‘being broke’—and guides readers to face reality by pulling six months of bank statements, color‑coding expenses, and building a realistic budget to cut costs and reduce debt.