Budgeting helps avoid financial hardships.(Life - Money)

Byline: Michelle Singletary

Most people can tell you pretty much to the penny how much their mortgage or rent is every month. But ask them what percentage of their income should be allocated toward housing or transportation, many don't know.

"Most consumers we counsel don't know how to create a realistic budget," said Tanisha Warner, of Money Management International, a nonprofit consumer counseling organization.

Last year MMI helped create budgets during counseling sessions for more than 180,000 clients. Warner says 39 percent of the clients they counseled in 2005 attributed "lack of budgeting skills" for financial hardships.

"Consumers …