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With household bills putting pressure on our finances, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Don't lie awake at night worrying about your finances. Get control back with our tools, tips and techniques for setting and sticking to a household budget.
It’s not fun or glamorous. But it is essential to set a household budget if you want to avoid that sinking feeling when you get to the end of the month and are left wondering where the money went. So stop free-falling and keep reading.
Go through your finances so you know exactly how much you have coming in and going out each month, then see where you can make any savings.
If you are saving to buy your first home, you’ll want to get an idea of how much you will need to afford to buy. Use our calculator to get a rough idea of how much you can borrow.
Most banks have a free app to help you manage your money online, make payments and review your spending. Get it glued to your home screen and check out what tools they have that can notify you of your balance on a regular basis and warn you when you are about to become overdrawn. Start using it daily and you’ll feel a lot more in control of where your money is going.
Budgeting apps on your phone allow you to easily record what you spend your money on so you can find out where every penny is going and make changes. There are loads out there, such as:
If you can put away a little bit of money each month into an ISA, you can earn tax-free interest with a cash ISA or invest through a stocks and shares ISA. Although bear in mind that investments can fall as well as rise in value. Before locking money away, consider any expensive debts and whether you have accessible savings for emergencies.
Another option is a Lifetime ISA, or LISA, which is a type of account designed to encourage people to save for their first home or their retirement. You must be aged 18-39 to open one and you can save up to £4,000 each tax year until you’re 50 and the government will top this up with a 25% bonus, worth up to £1,000 a year.
You can use LISA savings towards a qualifying first home costing up to £450,000, or withdraw them from age 60. Other withdrawals usually incur a 25% charge, taking back the bonus and some of your own savings. A replacement scheme is proposed – see our Lifetime ISA guide for details.
For help with more complex financial decisions, consider speaking to an Independent Financial Adviser.
You don’t have to make life’s big financial decisions alone. Get the right IFA for you today with our partners at Unbiased.
Whether you’re buying a product or service, shopping around online is a good way to ensure you’re not paying over the odds.
Whatever you’re about to buy in a shop, if it’s something you don’t need today, you may be able to find it cheaper online and have it delivered tomorrow. Use Google to check prices, and don’t forget the delivery charge.
Switch, switch, switch! Before your home insurance renews or your broadband contract ends, check what your current provider can offer then shop around to see if you can find a better deal elsewhere.
So when it comes to controlling your household budget, it’s worth digging out all your regular bills – mobile, insurance and broadband – and making a note of the date your current deal ends so that you’re ready to check whether you’ll be able to save by switching to a new provider.
Energy bills rose for millions of households on 1 October 2026, when Ofgem’s energy price cap increased by 4% to £1,723 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit in Great Britain.
And experts forecasting an even steeper rise in January 2027, it makes sense to check if you are on the best energy deal. Our free tool makes it easy to compare the cost of energy providers and see if you can switch and save on your energy bills. Compare the rates against your own usage and check the deal’s length and any exit fees. Just remember, a fixed tariff fixes your rates, not your total bill.
It also makes sense to look at ways of making your home more energy efficient. See our top 10 energy saving tips and investigate what energy grants are available if you are considering making energy efficiency improvements to your home – such as insulating your home, upgrading your boiler or replacing your boiler with a heat pump.
Compare energy deals, see how much you can save on electricity and gas, switch provider today.
Contactless payments are wonderfully convenient, but they can make it easy to lose track of small purchases. If you are trying to keep to a budget, then using cash to limit how much you spend on small items across a week, such as coffee, or on nights out could help you stay in control.
If you prefer paying by card, try setting a weekly spending limit or using a separate spending pot in your banking app.
From TV streaming and gym memberships to meal kits and app subscriptions, it’s easy to keep paying for services you no longer use.
We can talk ourselves out of cancelling the small stuff. But when you consider all these outgoings in the round, they soon add up. If you’re trying to control your monthly outgoings, then look carefully at your annual and monthly subscriptions, especially regular payments and those that might auto-renew. Be sure to check cancellation terms and renewal dates.
If you own your own home, then your biggest outgoing will likely be your mortgage, so you may be wondering should I remortgage now?
Many people remortgage to avoid moving onto their lender’s standard variable rate when their current deal ends. However, while remortgaging onto a new deal will typically cost less than the standard variable rate, your new mortgage may cost more than your old one, depending on the deal you take out.
But there are other reasons why people remortgage, such as remortgaging to pay off debts. Although, bear in mind this secures the debts against your home and could cost more overall if you repay them over a longer period. So make sure you take expert advice.
Get fee-free remortgage advice from the award-winning expert advisers at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Please note some branches of Mortgage Advice Bureau may charge a fee for mortgage advice if you go direct. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed. So make sure you use this site, this form or phone number for fee-free advice.
Renting out a room in your house can let you supplement your main income, helping you manage bills and meet other expenses.
With the Rent a Room scheme, you can earn up to £7,500 tax free a year for renting out furnished accommodation in your only or main home. This is halved to £3,750 if you share the income with someone else.
According to SpareRoom’s Q3 2026 figures, the average advertised UK room rent was £769 a month, including bills. This covers rooms in house shares generally, rather than lodgers alone, and what you could earn will depend on your location and the room.
Before taking in a lodger, check your mortgage conditions, your lease if applicable and your home insurance. For more ideas, see our guide to how to make money from your home.
HomeOwners Alliance Ltd is registered in England, company number 07861605. Information provided on HomeOwners Alliance is not intended as a recommendation or financial advice.
HomeOwners Alliance Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Mortgage Advice Bureau (Derby) Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
If you take out a mortgage or protection product through Mortgage Advice Bureau, they pay us a referral fee of 25%. You are not obliged to use their services.
HomeOwners Alliance Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative (IAR) of LifeSearch Limited, an Appointed Representative of LifeSearch Partners Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. (FRN: 656479).
Independent Financial Adviser service is provided by Unbiased, who match you to a fully regulated, independent financial adviser, with no charge to you for the referral.
HomeOwners Alliance Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative (IAR) of Fluent Money Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Calls may be monitored/recorded.
