Becoming a parent means financially supporting another individual; this is obviously a very large responsibility and expense! Read on for some tips on how to make the most of the money you have for you and your new arrival!
Budgeting is about managing your money, budgeting will assist you to establish how much money you have available to you, what you need to spend on and then what you are left with to spend on items you want. Successful budgeting should allow you to plan to spend and save your money comfortably and within your means, contributing to a healthy and controlled relationship to money.
The best way to budget is to draw up a budget sheet. You could adjust this chart to suit your income and expenditure needs. These will vary depending on your circumstances, for example if you live at home with your parents you may not have to contribute to the bills, whereas if you move out you will most probably have to start taking responsibility for these expenses yourself.
Our Budgeting and Managing Money page has some useful tools to help you to get started.
A budget usually looks at what you have coming in (income) and what you have going out (expenditure).
Your income could include:
Take a look at the Money Advice Service website to calculate the costs of a new baby.
To make sure you are recieving all the benefits and awards you're entitled to, book yourself an appointment with the Citizens Advice Bureau. Or check out the Benefits Calculator on the Turn2Us website.
Expenditure could include:
By looking at your total income and total expenditure you will be able to see where you currently spend your income and then be able to plan how you would rather spend it or even how to save some of your income for the future.
For more money saving tips, take a look at the Money Advice Service cutting costs when you have a baby.
Published on 07/08/2010
Last modified on 27/09/2012
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