Most of us rely on calendars to keep track of everything in our lives, from after-school activities for kids to doctor’s visits and vacations. But are you using a calendar to keep track of your finances? That is, you have that doctor visit marked, but have you also written down “Pay electric bill, grocery shop and purchase a toy for my nephew’s birthday”?

That’s what budget calendars are all about – forcing us to examine our spending visually, so we can look in one glance at what bills we need to pay now, what’s coming on the horizon and what purchases will be coming in the months ahead.

“Budgeting allows you to allocate enough money to pay your bills, so you aren’t struggling paycheck to paycheck,” says Leslie Tayne, debt resolution attorney and managing director of Tayne Law Group P.C. in New York City. “No one wants to live paycheck to paycheck as it can be frustrating and emotionally draining, so simply sticking to a budget can help relieve this problem.”

You probably already knew budgeting is smart. But if you’re new to the idea of a budget calendar, read on to learn more about how one can help you manage your cash flow, bookmark important payment due dates and achieve your financial goals.

A budget calendar is a financial tool designed to help you remember all of the important dates in your life, from the days when you can expect paychecks to arrive to the days that bills are due. The key benefits of creating a monthly budget calendar, planner or spreadsheet are:

If you’re looking for a good, comprehensive budget calendar, you can’t go wrong with any of these four.

What you might like about it: CalendarBudget.com has a lot of the features that most calendar budgets have, and it offers an easy way to categorize and divvy up your budget as well as an easy way to track how much you’re spending every day, not just with fixed bills, like a mortgage or rent payment or utility bills, but also for, say, dog grooming services. When a bill needs to be paid, you’ll get an email reminder that it’s due. Price: $3.99 a month, after a 30-day free trial period.

What you might like about it: Money-calendar.com comes with auto-generated charts to help you track your spending from month to month, which, as the website says, should help you to analyze your financial past and then plan your future revenue and expenses. Price: $29.99 flat rate.

What you might like about it: Like the others on the list, budgetcalendar.net has a lot of helpful features. You can forecast your cash flow for the next 20 years with this calendar and budget for everything from household purchases to one-offs, like a wedding or vacation. Price: $2.99 flat rate.

What you might like about it: This budget calendar has numerous features, from online banking and bill payment to investment tracking. If you spend money in different currencies, Moneydance.com can convert the expenses. In other words, it’s a very comprehensive personal finance tool. Price: $49.99 flat rate.

That’s right. You don’t have to necessarily pay for a budget calendar. You could make your own with a paper calendar, and plenty of people do track some bills on their calendar, or you could go with a digital calendar, like Google Calendar, and you could put down the bills you owe on the upcoming dates. It isn’t as easy and automated as the budget calendars that you do pay for, but if money is an issue, or you’re not sure you’ll use a budget calendar, you could always start off this way – and then later pay for a service to help you manage your money.

There are also a variety of free apps and templates online that allow you to easily monitor your spending and map out your budget.

Regardless of how you create a budget calendar, you’ll want to make sure you include several types of incoming and outgoing expenses.

Of course not. You need to budget, but nobody needs a budget calendar. If somehow you can manage your money in your head and still put away money for a rainy day, a vacation, your retirement, an emergency fund and have money left over for fun purchases and whatever random surprise purchases pop up in your life, more power to you.

The main thing is to find a way to manage your money that works for you. A budget calendar is just one useful tool that you might want to consider embracing.

But it’s crucial to have some sort of budget, whether you keep track of the numbers in your brain or on a budget calendar, and maintain it if you want to live comfortably. That applies whether you’re rich or poor.

“I have seen clients from all walks of life and have helped many low-income individuals who have had financial goals that were just not as grand as those living comfortably,” Tayne says.

The main thing a budget calendar can do is to help you think ahead, which is especially important if you don’t have a lot of money.

“Savings and emergency funds are not prevalent among low-income individuals due to lack of cash flow,” Tayne says. “Living on a low income often means focusing on the short term, which is why I believe there is no focus on long-term financial goals. Always living in the short term will keep you running in place and unprepared.”

With a budget calendar, you can better prepare yourself financially for what’s ahead – and start taking steps to achieve your long-term savings goals.