Now that you have well and truly got your finances under control, it’s time to think about the bigger financial picture. Now you have to think about setting long term goals that will keep you on track to financial security; when it comes to looking after your money the best thing you can do is make goals for yourself, and break those bigger goals down into smaller, more manageable ones.

Debt

You might have decided to get your finances in order to deal with a debt problem. If so, congrats! Tackling debt can be scary and hard to face up to, …

Other than your rent, household bills are probably the biggest non-negotiable outgoing in your budget. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about making them as cheap as possible.

We’ve already addressed groceries, so now it’s time to look at things like utility bills, insurance costs, and for the sake of completion, I’m also going to include car and personal bills in this section.

Utility bills

Your gas and electricity bills, home phone and broadband bills can be massively reduced, simply by shopping around for a better deal. Many people stay with the same supplier on a high premium because they …

Getting the hang of menu planning is the simplest thing you can do to cut back on your household expenditure. Keep your family well fed without breaking the bank using a few simple tricks.

The shopping

All it takes is ten minutes before you hit the supermarket to sit down with your recipe books (or the internet), and plan a week’s worth of meals. Write a list of all the ingredients you don’t already have, hit the supermarket with your list, and hey presto! Gone are the days of scratching your head and fumbling through cupboards after a long day at …

Once you have your basic budget laid out, you will easily be able to see the dead weight that needs to be cut away. Obviously there are some things you might not be able to change, like your car repayments or rent, but there is a lot you can do to reduce your other outgoings.

Prioritise

The key to cutting your outgoings is to prioritise your expenditure. Let’s say you want to find an extra £200 a month to put towards a savings goal. You might find that by making coffee at home in the morning instead of picking up a latte …

The absolute first step towards healthier finances is to work out a budget. The word ‘budget’ has a bit of a bad rap – it tends to make people think of living on beans on toast and penny pinching. In reality, it just means knowing where your money is going every month, and is an excellent tool for getting out of control spending under wraps, to begin tackling a debt problem, or to reach a savings goal.

Track your spending
When creating your budget you first have to look at what you spend your money on right now. It can be helpful …

Now that the brouhaha surrounding last week’s spending cut announcement has started to abate a little, it’s time to look a little more closely at what the cuts actually mean for families.

The two biggest changes that will most likely affect average families are the children benefit cut for high earners, and the increase in rail fares, that will now be able to rise three percentage points above inflation until 2012.

For families that has one earner making more than £44,000, when the cuts come in, those families will no longer be receiving …

Often when trying to cut back and trim the outgoings, a scarcely used gym membership is the first thing to go. But that doesn’t mean you have an excuse to turn into a couch potato – there are loads of resources out there to get you moving for free!

Whether you’re looking for a total body weights workout to do in the comfort of your own lounge, or a programme to get you running 5ks, here are some of the best online sites for totally free exercise motivation.

And even if you’re like …

In my house Sunday is a day for newspapers, afternoon dozes, and some indulgent cooking. I am writing this standing up in the kitcken while I wait for my onions and garlic to soften as I make Nigella’s pasta with meatballs recipe. I’ve never successfully made meatballs before so am a little nervous, but all seems to be going to plan so far.

Here are some of the posts I have come across today while catching up on my Google reader. For reading in your slippers with a nice glass of red in your hand.

The Guardian gives readers advice on …