Managing money with a budget

Managing money successfully rests heavily on knowing how to budget. Budgeting is a proactive way of keeping your finances organised that involves looking at the money you have coming in (income), what you’re spending (outgoings) and how much you have left over (disposable income). If you’re spending more than you’re bringing in then you’re in what’s called a ‘budget deficit’. 

Drawing up a personal budget can keep you from spending more than you’re making. It also helps you plan for future costs, like holidays. Once you find a budgeting method that works for you, it should be pretty simple to maintain. Read on to empower yourself with a handful of fresh budgeting tools and skills. These are all designed to help you to gain greater control over your personal finances.

Why budgeting is important

Budgeting is a brilliant habit to have, for a handful of reasons. 

• It can help you control and prioritise your spending. 

• It can give you time and brain space to put money aside for future events or emergencies.

• If you have debt, budgeting could help you pay it off more efficiently. 

• It can improve your financial wellbeing (the visibility budgeting gives can prevent overspending, amongst other things).

• Feeling more in control of your finances can be excellent for your mental health.

Budgeting apps

We’re tied on what we feel is the UK’s best budgeting app, so we’re shining a light on three of them! These apps are free to use, unless you subscribe to one of their upgraded services. 

If you live by your phone then either Emma, Snoop or Moneyhub could be your new, budgeting best friend. In varying ways, each budget builder lets you track your finances, manage subscriptions and more. With visuals of your accounts in one place and (often) access to exclusive, budget-trimming deals, you could end up falling in love with the personal finance-untangling beauty these tools bring. 

Budget planners and templates 

StepChange’s free, downloadable budget planner is served alongside a nifty video on how to use it. If you want a little help with this then you can also ring them. Their online advice tool talks you through each stage of putting a budget together too.

The Citizens Advice budget calculator is also a fantastic resource. It feels a little like a quiz when it’s being filled in, which some of you might find more engaging. If you opt for this option then we’d recommend you have all of your details to hand before you start. 

Improving your personal finances

If it turns out that you’re spending more than you make, or you simply want to increase your disposable income then the following RewardRate resources below could help you get there.

Put time in with yourself to action some ‘lifestyle tweaks that can save you money’. 

Our ‘make money go further’ blog offers a wealth of money management tips.

This list of questions to ask yourself before non-essential spending is handy to have in your back pocket. 

Explore this information on claiming benefits that you might be entitled to.

Rattle through our quick points on common overspending triggers, and how to avoid them. 

Finally, take a minute to soak up these money-saving grocery tips before you next head to the shops.

Now, get busy with that budget

We hope that the resources in this article, and the control over your personal finances that budgeting will bring, add plenty of value to your future self! Let us know if this guidance has been useful, and what else we can simplify for you in future posts.