There are steps you can take to help your cash stretch further THE MONEY PLANNER
Q A
I STRUGGLE having enough money left over every month after all my bills. What can I do? IT CAN be hard to make ends meet, especially if you have one income coming into the family, so being organised financially, and prioritising your spending is essential.
You need to take a look at what’s coming in, and see if there’s any scope for increasing this.
I like the site entitledto.co.uk because within a matter of minutes it will show you if you’re able to claim some benefits, you’re entitled to.
Then look at where money is spent each month, make a list of everything, starting with your direct debits. Ask yourself do you really need each payment and if you do, can you get it lower anywhere else?
Utilities are a great area to save, always use an Ofgem-approved site like USwitch.
But don’t stop there, try and reduce all your direct debits and ensure your household bills are no more than half of your monthly income.
In addition to your direct debits, you have day-to-day spending items, these are the hidden calories of finance!
Allocate yourself an allowance of no more than 30% of the money you bring in each month to spend on these ‘variable’ items and pay this to yourself in equal weekly instalments.
From your weekly allowance buy all your variable items such as food, fuel and going out.
Make this money stretch as far as you can by using price comparison sites – such as Idealo. co.uk – try sites like joinhoney.com which will find you discount codes (that work!).
Cashback sites such as topcashback.co.uk and quidco.co. uk meanwhile will pay you a small amount on qualifying purchases.
This should leave you with 20% of the money coming in each month.
I recommend you use at least half this for your pension and half for future purchases such as holidays.
Warren Shute is the author of the bestselling personal finance book The Money Plan. Send your questions to themoneyplanner@ warrenshute.com. Get his free money guides at warrenshute.com