Balance your budget today

NEED help working out and sticking to a budget? With Christmas around the corner, you might be struggling to make ends meet.

But these helpful budgeting tools can show you where you money is going and how to rein in your spending.

Monzo was previously a pre-paid debit card, but last year switched to become a proper mobileonly bank.

The free app alerts you to outgoings with mobile notifications and then logs your spending, splitting it into different categories such as bills, transport and eating out.

It then shows you a graphic breakdown of all your spending so you can see just where your money is going. You can also set budgets for each category and Monzo will alert you when you’re nearing them.

So if you’re about to order another takeaway, Monzo will ping a warning that you’ve already exceeded your eating out budget for the month.

You can also use it to split household and restaurant bills and transfer money to anyone you owe.

Moneybox is another tool which takes your change from everyday purchases and invests it in an ISA. It simply rounds up purchases made with your linked debit card and saves the difference. It might only be a few pence here and there but the savings pot will mount up without you even noticing.

The chatbot Plum can help you analyse your spending, set savings goals and encourage you to meet them. It does it all through Facebook Messenger so you just need a Facebook account.