Budget Planning
If you want to take control of your finances, creating a budget might help.
Budget Planners are a helpful way to see exactly where your money goes each month. Benefits of a budget include being:
Less likely to end up in debt
Less likely to get caught out by unexpected costs
More likely to have a good credit rating
Able to spot areas where you can make savings
Budgeting will help answer two key questions:
Do I spend more than I earn?
An instinctive assessment is easy – if you're eating up your savings or building up debts, you're likely to be overspending. Yet before you can address this it's important to get an accurate idea of the size and scale of the problem.
Major overspending can lead to a debt spiral and severe problems, that's why a Budget Planner is designed to provide a definitive assessment of your finances.
What can I afford to spend?
Once you know where you're spending, you can start to alter and prioritise what you do with your money to enable you to stick within your means.
What You’ll Need
Before you get started with creating a budget, it will be helpful to make sure you have the following information to hand:
Household bills
Loans or debts (if applicable)
Living costs
Financial products (e.g. insurance)
Family and friends (e.g. gifts)
Travel (e.g. car costs, public transport)
Leisure (holidays, sport, restaurants)