I Need Some Tips On Finances

by Cathy
(Swansea)

Can you give me some tips on finances and how to get organized. I'm about to get started with budgeting and being organised is not my strong point. I know if I organise everything, then budgeting will be a lot easier.

Answer:

Good for you!! You are definitely right, being organised is key, not only to see where your money is going but where it’s been spent in the past.

Writing out a monthly budget is key, find our free family budget worksheet here or if you don’t have children then use our free personal budget worksheet.

The first tip is to figure out what you have coming in. Make sure to include not only your paycheque but any other sources of income you may have. If this fluctuates from month to month then take the total for the last couple of months and give yourself a monthly average. To help keep you organised try keeping a file with all you paycheques so you can routinely keep an eye on you actual income.

The second of our tips on finances and budgeting, is to figure out your expenses. Collect up your bills and bank statements into one file, so it is easy to review them and work out your costs.

Working out monthly costs is easy if everything is in one place. Not sure what you are spending your money on? Then use one of our free budget worksheets they have lists of typical expenses to help you.

However yearly costs such as insurance, breakdown cover or car servicing can be a problem when budgeting. Get organised and open a separate savings account and make a direct debit as soon as you get your paycheque to cover these yearly costs. It will seem like you are paying monthly and you won’t be short when they need paying.

One of the best tips on finances is to account for all the ‘little’ things that we spend money on. If you are not sure how much you spend on these things then you will need to start your budget with a rough estimate for the first month.

Then through the month make a list of all your purchases in a small diary or keep your receipts. Make sure you put them all into a file so you can review them. At the end of the month you will be astounded at how much money gets frittered away. If this is different from your rough estimate you can then update your budget accordingly or you can try to make some changes to reduce your costs. You can find some great money saving tips here.

At this point, most people feel empowered to reduce these costs and their spending.

Remember though, the first step is creating your budget from a worksheet.

Hope that helps get you started.

The Budgeting Steps Team