How to budget: A guide to making ends meet
Why do I need a budget?
- Seeing all of your income and expenditure in black-and-white shows how much you can spend on non-essentials (disposable income)
- It shows you if and when you’ll run out of money which means you can do something about it before you reach crisis point
- If you’re not worrying about money you can focus on other things…
So why don’t more people budget?
- Ignorance is bliss, right? The main reason most people avoid working out a budget is that it normally makes you realise how little money is left after the necessities are paid for. In fact, if you are relying on just your Student Loan to see you through the year, you’ll probably be in for a bit of a shock. NUS estimates the Student Loan only covers about half the average student’s annual expenditure.
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Tips for filling in the budget planner
- You may need to estimate some of your expenditure. Average figures have been included to help you out
- To get an idea of your normal expenditure grab a couple of recent bank statements to remind you
- Estimate expenditure on a weekly basis
- Remember to divide bills (TV licence, phone line rental and utilities) between the number of people who share the bill
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