Sometimes you can feel completely on top of your finances and, other times, it feels like you have no control over your spending and have no idea where your money is going. Some months are harder than others and that is totally okay!

When it feels like it’s all too much, you may be in need of a complete financial overhaul and we are here to help you do just that:

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Review The Past 1-3 Months

If you are usually good with your spending but have fallen off of the wagon recently, the easiest place to start is by reviewing your bank account transactions. By going through and actually seeing that the money adds up and you have in fact spent that much can be eye opening and help you to figure out where you might have lost track slightly.

Try putting all of your spending into categories - bills, expenses, travel, fun and saving may be a good place to start. Write these down or use a spreadsheet to make a note of these numbers. 

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Bills and Expenses

As you’re reviewing your spending, now is also a good time to review your bills and direct debits.

Firstly, is there anywhere you can cut back? Any subscriptions you haven’t made use of in the past 3 months? Once you’ve narrowed it down to the necessary ones, can those ones be cut down any more? Call up your providers and see what they can do for you. Your phone bill is always a good one to start with, especially if you’re on a sim only contract, shop around and you will most likely be able to find a better deal than your current plan. 

Once you’ve got your bills sorted out then you can put all the amounts into that spreadsheet to really analyse the numbers. Try to figure out an average total for each category over the past three months and work with these numbers as a reference. 

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Reorganise and Re-Budget

Time to really look at the numbers. You may have noticed a difference in your spending recently but maybe that’s because your priorities have changed, so let’s figure out how to amend your budget to fit your new lifestyle. If you were working with a budget before, compare this against your last 3 months of spending and if you have overspent, see if it’s because you have been extra frivolous or maybe you need to be more realistic with where your money is going.

So, create a new, realistic budget in line with your actual spending to regain control of your financial habits. Be sure to revisit your savings goals too to make sure your budget still aligns with these.

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It may be useful to check in at the start of each month to review the last few weeks and take into account upcoming events and plans you may have - your new budget doesn’t have to be rigid, make it flexible so it can work for you.