Budgeting help

List your income

This should include:

• your wages
• your benefits
• pension income
• any other money you receive

Write down your essential expenses

This should be all your day-to-day costs, including:

• rent or mortgage payments
• bills
• food
• travel

Write down your non-essential spending

What luxuries do you pay for and how much does it cost you? This should include:

• subscriptions
• treats
• eating out
• takeaways
• holidays
• trips out

Once you’ve done this, use our free budget planner to compare your income and outgoings and set a budget you can stick to.

Check out our guide - how to create a budget – to find out more.

There are a few things you can do to address this:

Review your spending

Look at where you could trim your non-essential spending, such as:

• unused items
• luxury or branded goods
• impulse purchases
• subscriptions
• dining out or buying takeaways
• leisure activities

Make sure everyone is paying their fair share

If there are adults living with you, such as grown-up children, make sure they’re contributing to household costs, such as groceries and rent.

Check you’re getting all the support you’re entitled to

If you’re owed child support, you can check your options with the Child Maintenance Service.

You can also see if you qualify for any grants using the Turn2us grants checker.

We can also help you find out if you’re eligible for any other support, such as universal credit, with our benefits calculator.

Make sure you’re paying the right amount of tax

If your tax code is wrong, you could end up out of pocket.

Use a tax code checker to make sure your details are correct. 

For more tips on what to do if your income doesn’t match your outgoings, check out our guide what to do if you’ve got a negative budget.

We’ve pulled together a list of suggestions that may help your money go further.

Plan your spending

Set limits for what you’re spending on things like groceries, travel and leisure.

Look for discounts

Use loyalty schemes and cashback apps such as Quidco and TopCashback to get the best deals.

Plan your meals

Working out what you’re going to eat in advance means you only buy what you need and don’t throw away as much food.

Shop around

You might be able to save money by switching to a new insurance, energy or broadband provider.

There are plenty of sites to help you research what’s available, including CompareTheMarket, MoneySuperMarket and GoCompare.

Sell unwanted items

If you have unused items taking up space in your drawers and cupboards, then list them on an online marketplace - such as Vinted or Depop - to generate some extra cash.

If you’re struggling to manage debt repayments, you might be able to get back on track by making changes to your spending.

You might also find it useful to get debt advice.

We’ll build a full picture of your situation and look at whether tweaks to your budget would be enough to help you meet your contractual payments.

If not, we can then consider other options, such as debt solutions.