What to do if you're worried about money

Worrying about money can make you feel alone. It can be scary to open up but talking to someone you trust – whether it’s family, a friend or a charity could be helpful.

It may sound obvious, but it can be easy to stop taking time for yourself if you’re anxious about money. A day out, a walk or a night with friends could ease the load. Taking time to unwind and reflect may help you to confront any money worries with a clear head.

It’s common to avoid money problems. Not paying attention to bills or debt can offer short term relief but won’t make the problem go away. Facing up to bills or debt might be scary, but when you know your situation fully – you can start to improve it.

• Take a look at all of your current accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, loans and store cards to understand what you owe and how much you’ve got.
• Make a list of your outgoings and incomings. Use a budget calculator to see how much you’ve got spare a month. Once you know, you can plan to repay debt and find areas you might be able to cut down.
• It can be helpful to go through your old statements to see where your money is going. If there’s points in the month that you often overspend (just after payday, for example), seeing them in black and white could help you spend less.

It might be helpful to list your outgoings in priority order. So food, your mortgage or rent and heating at the top – then working your way down the list to less important things.

If you’re in debt, you might need to keep borrowing to keep up with your regular bills. This cycle can be hard to break out of. Using credit cards, loans or buy now, pay later services are all ways debt can build up.