Creating a budget helps you take control of your day-to-day finances and understand what’s coming in, what’s going out and where it's going – so you can prioritise spending and saving.
If you make a plan and stick to it, it can help you to make your money last and potentially save each month. A great way to start is to detail your spending and income. Thankfully, this can be found in one place: your bank statements.
Our simple budget planner can help give you an overview of how and where you're spending your money each month.
See how you can use this helpful rule-of-thumb to find the right balance between spending and saving.
If you’re thinking about retirement, why not use our handy calculator to work out what your ongoing costs might be.
You're not alone. 40%* of people say their most pressing financial need is to budget their day- to-day income and expenditure. And 34%* of people say they have spent more than they can afford in the past 6 months.
*The Fidelity Global Sentiment Survey, 2022
Take a look at your last three bank statements — they should give you a good idea of your income and spending, and where you might be able to make savings.
It can be helpful to separate:
Your budget should tell you if you’re spending more, or less, than your income each month.
If your spending is lower than your income — well done! If that’s you, you can focus on saving and putting that money to good use towards your goals.
But if you’re spending more than your income each month, it is a sign that you need to make changes right away. You may be managing month-to-month by dipping into savings, or worse using overdraft or credit card borrowing which can mean extra interest costs in the future.
Now you’ve built your budget and have set yourself goals, you should regularly check that you’re keeping to your plan. This way you can make sure that you're on track to achieve your goals.
Remember, you can make changes where it’s not working or where you feel you can potentially save more.
As a starting point for your budget you can use our helpful rule-of-thumb to find the right balance between saving and spending.
Our research found that 57%* of people define ‘financially well’ as having money set aside for an emergency. Your budget should cover contingency savings set aside for any unexpected events, for example a car breakdown or a leaky roof. Start by aiming to have £1,000 saved. Then you can build up to saving the equivalent of one month’s income. Eventually saving ideally three to six month's income to prepare you and your family for the unexpected.
A quick summary on budgeting
*The Fidelity Global Sentiment Survey, 2023. The data collection, research and analysis was completed in partnership with Opinium, a strategic insight agency. Data collection took place between 3rd July and 18th July 2023 and includes a sample of 1000 UK adults. The sample consisted of respondents with the following qualifying conditions: aged 20-75, either they or their partner were employed full-time or part-time and had a minimum household income of £10,000 annually.
