A budget shows exactly how much money you have coming in and how much you have to spend.
Making a budget
How to make a budget
Number one... Write down how much money you have coming in:
- Wages
- £?,???
- Benefits
- £?,???
- Total coming in
- £??,???
Number two... Next make a list of all the bills you must pay:
Bill
A piece of paper that says how much money you need to pay for something.
- Rent or mortgage
- £?,???
- Insurance
- £?,???
- Gas and electricity
- £???
- Council Tax
- £?,???
- Other bills (Water, TV licence, etc)
- £???
Number three… and a list of the things you must have:
- Food
- £???
- Bus, train and taxi fares
- £???
- Clothes and shoes
- £?,???
- Telephone
- £???
- Other things
- £???
Number four… Add those all up to give you the total going out…
- Adding up everything in steps 2 and 3:
- Total going out
- £??,???
Number five… then take that total away from your total money coming in. Whatever is left over is what you have to spend on the things you want.
- Total coming in
- £ ??,???
- Total going out
- -£ ??,???
- Left to spend
- £ ?,???
Be careful!
Make a new budget if money coming in or going out changes. If there is not enough money to cover the things you must pay and the things you must have, then you need to get help to bring more money in.
Budget
This means writing down the amount of money that comes in and the amount of money that goes out.
There is more advice on budgets in the section on this website called Getting Help.You can find the section at the top of the page.
Budget
This means writing down the amount of money that comes in and the amount of money that goes out.
Find out about using a bank account to manage your money on the next page