Useful Advice

The first vital step in taking control of your finances is to create your own personal budget plan. Our user friendly money management tool is free to use and should only take minutes to complete if you have all your financial information to hand.

Before you start...

Before you start to use the budget planner there are a few things that will make it easier to fill in. You will need information on:

• Your income, e.g. state benefits, pensions, and any earnings
• Your partner's income, including any benefits
• How much money you pay towards debt repayments, or money you get from interest on savings
• Your household bills, e.g. gas, electricity, water, rent or mortgage and council tax
• Other costs e.g. food, mobile and internet payments, leisure activities, etc.
• Your bank statements so you can refer to them to check your figures

What will I be asked?

You will be asked to enter whether you are single or in a couple and how many dependent children you have. We use the same definitions as the benefits system.

You will be asked to enter all your income and expenditure. The budgeting calculations are based on the information you enter, so be as accurate as possible. If you do not have all the information you need to hand you can save your budget and come back later.