Top Tips To Help You Budget Beyond Payday

If you're a reader, then you may know that I went back to work, from being a stay-at-home Mam, in February. It's been a significant change to our lives, mentally and financially. We're all getting used to the change slowly and something I love having back is knowing that I have a payday to look forward to at the end of each month. But saying that, something I have struggled with was budgeting my wage after payday. 

PayPlan have recently realised a new quiz, called Diagnose Your Spending, to help people think about their spendings throughout the month after payday, and also share some of their advice and some resources to help them improve their financial situation in future. I've taken the quiz myself, and it's given me some great information to help me deal with my spendings throughout the month before my next payday. 

I thought I'd also share some of my top tips on how to budget your money beyond your payday, to help you not get into any financial troubles before the next payday. 

1. Direct Debits 

Any bills you are paying, from TV License to your internet providers, setting up a direct debit will help you not miss any monthly bills. Many people decide to pay their bills themselves instead of direct debit, this mostly ends up in late payments and then the person receiving some letters reminding them to pay. Direct Debits are great for getting bills paid on time.

2. Write Everything Down

If you're someone who struggles to budget. Try writing all your spendings down in a budgeting notebook. This will let you see correctly what spendings need to go out and what expenses you could possibly cut out such as takeaways etc. This will help you massively budget between one payday to the next. 

3. Bank Savings

You could take a look at possibly opening a second bank account to place some savings into it. This could be anything from adding as little as £1 per week or even your loose change at the end of the week. Having some savings could be a great help in future if an emergency arises such as as a large household item breaks that need replacing. It's always great to have some money aside in case of an emergency. 

4. Prioritise Your Bills

When payday arrives, make sure you pay your most important bills first and then pay the rest of the bills that need paying. Never budget your money for the rest of the month until you have completely paid your bills first. If you don't do this, it may end up in financial problems. 

5. Budget Your Food Shop

Whether you do a weekly, fortnightly or monthly food shop, doing it on a budget always helps. The first thing you could do is to look around and see where you can find the cheapest supermarket to buy your food. The second tip for budgeting your food shop is to write a list of the foods you want to buy, making sure you check your cupboards etc. first incase you double buy. Thirdly and lastly, by making sure you only buy what is on the list. 

What are your top tips to keep in budget? 

- This is a collaborative post.