Budget Planner

There’s nothing scary about setting a budget. It’s merely a plan of money that you expect to receive and how you expect to spend it – Simple!

Step 1:
A budget is important because it will show you:
• How much money is coming into your household.
• How much money is going out each week or month.
• How much you can afford to offer to those you owe money to.
• How you can best plan your spending in the future.

Step 2:
It involves you:
• Working out your total income.
• Working out your total spending.
• Working out the money left over.

A personal budget is an essential tool to help you tackle debt problems.

Step 3:
Add up the income for you and your household.
Include:
• Wages and salary after deductions. Only include overtime if it’s regular.
• Check that you are paying the right tax amount and claiming all your tax allowances. Remember that refuse charges and union fees are allowable against tax. You can claim for eligible medical and dental expenses using the MED 1 or MED 2 form. Contact your local regional tax office at the Lo-Call 1890 number.
• Include social welfare benefits and children allowance payments
• Contributions from other people who live in your home such as grown-up children (known as non-dependants). Try to make sure that any non-dependant is paying enough towards the household expenses
• If you are on a low income, you may be entitled to money which you are not claiming, such as Living Alone Allowance, Family Income Supplement etc. Check with your local Citizens Information Centre
• If you are sick or disabled you may be able to claim a range of disability benefits. Check with your local Social Welfare office or Citizens Information Centre

Step 4:
Work out with your family how much money you have to spend each week on basic living expenses.

At this stage do not include any debts or arrears or loan repayments. Check out your spending under the following headings:
• Mortgage
• Rent
• Housekeeping: This should include food, toiletries, cleaning materials, etc.
• Gas and electricity. Look at your last bill. These bills are issued every two months. Multiply the total bill by 6 to get an annual amount then divide by 52 if preparing a weekly budget, 12 if monthly If you usage is very high enquire about energy efficiency from Sustainable Energy Ireland at www.sei.ie from the electricity or gas supplier.
• TV licence. Divide the cost of the license by 52 in order to get a weekly payment. This is a priority payment because if you do not hold a current license you can be fined.
• Hire purchase cars loans: If you need a car for work and bought it using a hire purchase type arrangement, you will need to include these payments in your expenditure or you may lose the car.
• Clothing. If you have children do not forget the cost of school uniforms.
• Telephone: Only include your ongoing bill. If you have been disconnected, treat the bill as an unsecured debt.

Step 5:
Calculate what you are bringing in each month in wages and salary and also what you are spending against each other.

If your income is greater than your expenditure, Congratulations! Perhaps you could talk to us about a savings or investment plan.

If your expenditure is greater than your income, maybe it’s time you came to us so we can put a practical plan in place for you to combat the stress of having debts each month.

There are options for everybody and each case is different.

Log onto www.itsyourmoney.ie for a budget planner to keep track of your finance.

“In the two years that I have known Frances O’Hanlon and her superb staff, they consistently put their client’s needs on top of their business ethos, along with delivering an unwavering commitment to a fantastic ongoing service. Along with their professionalism and the friendly environment that they do business, my experience with working with Frances and her team is second to none.”

Evan Butler
Broker Account Manager
Canada Life