<prompt> Human: Ive been working hard to put a good chunk of change into savings every month for the last few months now that I have my big-boy job. I worked hard to pay down some debt, but the problem is things seem to keep coming up now that I have some money saved. Its like the universe knows. For example, I needed a new computer. That was almost 1,000. I could have put it on a 0 interest financing plan, but decided to pay cash. Yes, it made a big dent in my savings account, but I thought better to pay cash than incur more debt. What is the key to staying positive with budgeting? I have a very good budget, and almost every dollar is accounted for, so when things like this come up, it can really throw a wrench in my plans.  <response>: A whole computer should never be an unexpected purchase, unless you had a brand new machine that was stolen or completely destroyed shortly after purchase.Newer computers that are still in their usable life span can be repaired, unless you purchased a laptop with all solderedglued-in components dont do this if you can avoid it. Older computers that are approaching or past the end of their usable life span should result in your budgeting for a new one.And if all else fails and you really need to purchase a computer on short notice with emergency savings, you should spend the minimum required to get back up and running. 1,000 is not cheap for a basic computer, even for a laptop.The point of all those words is that I think you might using a need a computer component is failing to justify a want a brand new computer that is simply beyond your means, as well as failing to budget for regular expenses that you consider emergency expenses. If youre failing to build up your savings, you might want to look for other parts of your spending where you either should have budgeted in advance, or where youre justifying a more expensive want by considering it a need. 