Managing Money

Managing your money or budgeting can seem like a balancing act – juggling what’s going out and what’s coming in, whilst trying to make sure that you’ve always got a bit left over in case of an emergency.

Sometimes, it can be a good idea to do your own ‘mini-accounts’, listing all your outgoing expenses in one column; what the item is and how much it costs e.g. travelling £7.50 per week; and the amount of money you’ve got to spend in the other column.

Items you might put in the outgoings column include: travelling, clothes, food, going out, rent, tv licence, phone/gas/electricity/water bills etc.

You can’t always account for all your outgoings as sometimes unexpected expenses crop up e.g. you’re invited to a wedding and have to buy a present, your car breaks down and you have to pay for repairs, but ideally your outgoing expenses should be covered by your incoming money e.g. wages.

Opening a bank/building society account

One way of helping you manage your money is open a bank/building society account.

If you’re working, many employers will ask you to open a bank/building society account (if you’ve not already got one) so that they can pay your wages directly into your account.

Try to check out the different types of accounts available at a few banks/building societies to find one which is right for you – different banks/building societies accounts may have different interest rates, overdraft facilities (allowing you to go over your credit limit i.e. the amount of money you’ve got in) etc.