Tips on how to control your money over the next few months.

July 17, 2011 Posted in - Money

The economic climate at the moment is full again of news about debts, bankruptcy, unemployment and financial pressures. The media has to report what is topical and often the Radio and Television are negative and can be quite demoralising.

Families are now under pressure as never before with news that British Gas and Scottish Power are going to be increasing their prices for energy which will mean that other Utility Companies will also follow suit and increase their energy tariffs.

We have mentioned before about capping your energy bills but have you actually put a plan into place to start squashing your bills , which is not just your energy bills as other areas can also be looked at.

Are you serious about having enough money and making sure that you will be able to cope over the next 3 months and further ahead action needs to be taken as soon as possible if you are then maybe this information below could help?

Make a list and an action plan and what needs to be done first.

One of the hardest things to do is to write out a budget plan, some people find this easy but it is important to know what is coming into the house and what your outgoings are. The first stage is to note down your priority payments which are.

1. Mortgage or Rent Payments-

If you feel as though you are going to have a problem then make it a priority to speak to your mortgage company or landlord, please do not hide away and bury your head in the sand don’t delay give them a call and they will look favourably on your situation and appreciate the call or letter.

2. Council Tax

Again do not wait until the first bill comes through the door take action and explain that there may be a problem and make a note of who you spoke to as soon as possible.

3. Utility Bills

There is going to be a big increase coming up very soon so you need to contact your utility company and explain that you may have problems with paying your utility bills. You may be on estimated billing as a priority brings the readings up to date. The reasons we suggest that is if you want to move then you don’t want to be held back from transferring to another supplier because you have had a large bill building up.

We have a tool which will be very useful for working out how much you owe as a suggestion print this off and fill in the figures for each section. We would suggest that if you have credit card or personal loans write those figures in and phone them as you are entering the information it all helps you focus on being in control of your budgets.

When you have contacted those companies the next stage we would suggest is to start working on your budget, have a look at your bank statements and see if anything can be cut back on - We have a template which you can use to work out your budgets.

We understand that it may seem to simple and with all the pressures that people are facing at the moment it can be a little too much to be able to talk through budgets and may just need a listening ear who would be able to help you be simply smart with your money and will help you be simply smart with you money and try and ease the pressure you may be facing now or in the near future.