Fine tune your family finances

£25 each month in your budget calculations. 3 Once you’ve listed all your outgoings and income, you will hopefully be left with a positive figure – your disposable income. If things don’t add up, this is where you need to work out if you can cut back or cut out anything. You need to weigh up every item on your budget planner and be ruthless about those you can do without. Also, go through all your bills to ensure you are on the best possible deals. If you have expensive debt, the more money you can free up from non-essential spending, the more you can pay towards your debt and get it cleared quicker and cheaper. Also, check you are not missing out on any benefits you are entitled to. You can do a benefits check via turn2us.org.uk. 4 Try carrying a pocket notebook with you for four weeks and write down every cash transaction – even if it’s just a sandwich or coffee – and you can then have a clearer idea of where you spend your money day to day. 5 If you struggle not to dip into money for essential bills, you could use an app to help you keep dedicated pots. Or open a separate account, with no debit card so you can’t dip in, and keep that just for regular bills. You could also copy the way people used to ensure they had cash for essentials, tucking separate amounts in jam jars or tins when they got paid, to pay bills or the milkman. 6 As many people are working from home, some bills may be higher than expected. It could be you are going over your mobile phone data limit. Or your energy or water usage may have gone up. Check to see if your current deals are right for your level of usage. If not, see if you can switch, or make a note of when a deal comes to an end – so you can move and not end up on a deal that benefits your provider but costs you more. 7

Check your bank statement and credit report. Keep an eye on your account to ensure everything is correct but also so you know when your funds are low and you need to tighten spending until you get paid again. Your credit report may not seem important if you are not thinking of borrowing but you should keep a regular eye on it. 8 Revisit your budget every six months – ideally you’ll make changes as you go if any of your direct debits increase (or decrease if you’re lucky!).