Creating A Budget

Before creating a budget, it’s critical to see where you’re spending your money. If people have never created a budget before, they usually underestimate how much they spend in certain areas (& it’s usually well below what it really is!).

You can start by simply writing down what you spend on a daily basis but ideally you should do it over the period of a month. You can also get a quick idea of the big bills by looking at payments the previous 6 to 12 months (e.g. mortgage, rent, electricity, phone etc.)

Prior to beginning, you need to estimate the expected annual bills under several headings which are listed below.

To the total estimated figure of bills a further contingency amount is added (Usually 5%) to allow for unforeseen extra expenses. We also add a small charge to cover our administration costs for managing the budget.

This overall figure is then divided by the number of wage payments the member receives in the year (52, 26 or 12 depending on the frequency of payment).

The resulting sum is deducted at source from wages, salary or pension or from your bank account as decided by you.

Typical Budget Categories:
Category Code
Rent/Mortgage B01
Bank Standing Orders B02
Hire Purchase B03
Creche B04
Digital T.V. B05
TV Licence B06
Telephone B07
Medical Expenses B08
Car Tax B09
Car Insurance B10
Car Repair B11
Mobile Phone B12
ESB/Airtricity B13
Bord Gais Gas B14
Fuel B15
Insurance - Life/House B16
Ground Rent/Water Rates B17
School Fees B18
Club Fees B19
Holidays B20
Christmas Expenses B21
Refuse Charges B22
Miscellaneous B23
Clothing/Footwear B24
Communion/Confirmation B25
Home Decoration B26
T.V. Rental B27
Bord Gais Electricity B28

Call us on any of the numbers below and we’ll get a budget card out to you and help you to complete it if needed or Download One Here.

Dublin 01 844 5187

Cork 061 715 402

Shannon 021 431 9868