Week 3: Expenditure and budgeting

Introduction

The previous week was about incomes; now you turn to household expenditure. Bringing the two together enables you to build a budget. Look at more budgetary challenges and at how spending links to lifetime goals.

Martin introduces the week, which examines household expenditure and shows you how, by combining expenditure and income, you can compile a budget.

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Transcript

Martin Upton

Hello again, and welcome to Week 3. This week you'll continue to work towards compiling a household budget by focusing on household expenditure, the counterpart to last week's work on incomes and benefits.

As you work through the week, you may be surprised to discover where your money really goes, how much is spent on coffees and colas, and how shopping around can save on essentials, and whether your online shopping habit is out of control.

And we're going to introduce Jenny, a young single woman who, just like the rest of us, has to make day-to-day decisions and choices to keep her household finances under control. You'll see the social factors that influence spending and the sensible things you can do to stop frittering away your hard-earned cash.

The important thing to bear in mind is that preparing a budget is one of the key tools of financial planning. It enables you to measure your financial position, identifying what you are spending your income on and where to make adjustments in order to meet your financial goals.

Have a great week.

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Once again you use the MAS budget planner to assist you in filling in the relevant parts of your fact find. 

This course is presented with the kind support of True Potential LLP.

The True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance (True Potential PUFin) is a pioneering Centre of Excellence for research in the development of personal financial capabilities. The establishment and activities of True Potential PUFin have been made possible thanks to the generous support of True Potential LLP, which has committed to a five-year programme of financial support for the Centre totalling £1.4 million.