It’s always a good idea to take some time to understand what your financial position is, in relation to your expenditure (the money you spend) and your income. By understanding exactly what you are spending each month compared to what money you have coming in, you will be better able to manage your finances.

To help you with this process we have a free budgeting tool, which will also tell you if you are entitled to any benefits.

We recommend that before you begin that you gather some information which should help you provide an accurate assessment of your income versus expenditure:

1. Bank statements or Banking app
2. Copies of credit card statements
3. Loan statements and repayment amounts
4. Wage slips
5. Benefit details (our tools will show you what you are entitled to)
6. Copies of your recent bills including council tax
7. Details of any arrears you may have

The more detail you provide the more useful the calculator will be to you; you can keep the results for use at a later date and you can change your details as many times as you wish.