Money Coming In - Your Sources of Income
At this stage of your Budget Planning, we'll look at the money you and your partner are receiving, that is, the money you have coming in.
Now add up all the money you have coming in:
| wages/salary/pension - include the money from any casual work you do |
| benefits - child benefit, etc |
| Child Support - record what you actually get - if your ex-partner does not pay what they should the Child Support Agency may be able to help (see Useful Contacts) |
| contributions from other people in the household - do you have a lodger? Do any of your children pay towards their keep? |
| student loan - if you have a loan, do you also get parental contributions? |
| other - do you have any other money coming in regularly, or occasionally (eg. share dividends, interest from term deposits etc)? |
Balancing the books
Now add up all your outgoings and income for the week, month or quarter. You must be spending more than you have coming in or you would not be in debt. Check that you have remembered to write everything down.
Now work out how you can get more money coming in than going out, as this is the only way you will be able to start repaying your debts. Ask yourself some hard questions and accept that you will have to make sacrifices. |
