You are sick and tired of struggling with monthly expenses and spending half your wages within a few days. You want more financial freedom and you want to be better organised when it comes to your financial goals. It may sound difficult, but it is totally doable and everything starts with some budgeting tips.

Setting up a budget will prevent debt, unexpected expenses, bad credit scores, issues with banks when asking for loans and the impossibility to have a nice holiday every now and then. You will need to plan it carefully, meaning you have to sit down and work things out on a piece of paper – you might as well do it over a spreadsheet online. Here are a few helpful tips to ensure your plan works.

Get your entire family involved

You cannot do this by yourself – you will need to have everyone involved. You cannot stick to some budgeting ideas while everyone else in your family wastes money on random stuff. In other words, sit down together and ensure you come up with a plan that everyone can handle.

Do all the calculations and find out what is left. How much money does everyone need? What are the things that your family members can get rid of? Should you manage money separately? Obviously, it depends on each case individually, but generally speaking, you should be able to pull it off.

Cut the monthly bills

For most people out there, the biggest chunk of wages goes on bills. Most of the money goes on rent or mortgage, while other bills – from the pricey council tax to electricity – add to the overall value of this chunk. The good news is that you can actually save some money by reducing your bills.

You could end up saving thousands of pounds if you keep an eye out for remortgaging deals – lower interest rates, for example. You can also shop around for another water provider. The market is free for everyone – you can move around, swap and figure out what you would get from a new deal.

Be more flexible

Unexpected situations will always arise, regardless of how careful you are. Life is unpredictable – simple as that. You might end up with a medical emergency or perhaps your car breaks down. Try to review your budget every two or three months in order to accommodate new expenses that may arise meanwhile.

Things are not always negative though – do not take it the wrong way. You might end up with a bonus in work or perhaps a promotion. You will save even more then. Some of the bills may also increase – the council tax is notoriously famous for this problem.

Get rid of credit cards and personal loans

While it looks like you can handle all those monthly direct debits, they hit at different times of the month, so they can be annoying and interfere with your budgeting task. Therefore, try to get rid of them. Instead of saving £1,000 this month, save £500 and use the other £500 to pay off loans or credit cards.

Obviously, it makes more sense to start with the ones charging the highest interest rates. This way, you will be able to save a bit of money. Store cards tend to charge a lot, for example. Other examples include bad credit payday loans and credit cards.

Bottom line, a bit of organization will work wonders in the long run. The more you know about your finances and the better you organize this aspect, the easier it will be to set a budget and achieve your short and long term goals.