Your MONEY MANAGEMENT

Building A Budget

The first step to getting in control of your money is understanding it. It can feel like an overwhelming area to tackle, but taking control is simpler than you think.

The best place to start is creating a budget that works for you and your life: this doesn’t just help you see if you could make savings or to identify old subscriptions that could be cancelled to keep money in your pocket, it gives you personal financial management skills.

There are free tools to help you do this, like the Budget Planner from MoneyHelper (www.moneyhelper.org. uk). This lets you input your earnings and what you usually spend, then gives you a breakdown of your finances by category with personalised tips on how you could save. The best part is you can save this in an online account to revisit and tweak as you need to.

Daily Savings

Council tax, the cost of energy and the price of other essentials has gone up in recent months, but in your dayto-day life, there could be ways your profession helps you save.

There are discount schemes available to education sta as a way to say thank you for the way teachers benefit society. Discounts for Teachers (www.discountsforteachers.co.uk) and Teacher Perks (www.teacherperks. co.uk) are free to join, o ering discounts on everything from food shopping to gym memberships. By utilising these services, you could save money on the things you regularly spend on.

Alongside schemes dedicated to teachers, there are other ways to save or to earn cashback. By using Airtime Rewards (www.airtimerewards.co.uk) you can earn cashback to redeem against your phone bill, and all you have to do is add your cards to the account to start saving. Quidco (www.quidco.com) pays out the highest cashback rates in the UK, while Top Cashback (www.topcashback.co.uk) also o ers vouchers and deals.

Financial Health Check

Could you be saving money on the bills and subscriptions that already come out of your bank account every month? The Bank of England expects the UK’s inflation rate to fall to around four per cent by the end of 2023, bringing it closer to the two per cent target. This means that the price of goods and services will stop rising as quickly, but they could stay higher until that happens.

As the nation waits for the cost of everyday items to become more stable, looking for ways to save can help you, even if it’s just a little bit at a time. Taking time to review the deal you have on your car, home or life insurance using services like Money Supermarket (www.moneysupermarket.com) or advice from Money Saving Expert (www.moneysavingexpert.com) is quick and easy, but could see you make a big saving. Money Saving Expert also have a free, weekly newsletter filled with tips and deals to help people save.

If you are concerned about the cost of living crisis or problem debt, contact a charity like StepChange (www.stepchange.org) or contact Citizens Advice (www.citizensadvice.org.uk).