Don’t Forget:
Your monthly budget is likely to be the core activity of your checking account, so it’s important to get it right. Schedule as much as you can on a monthly basis to streamline your account—and your life.

Annual Expenses:
Although these expenses are the least frequent, they can also be the most painful. But if you have put enough aside from your monthly salary, you should be able to meet yearly costs such as the following:

1.    Home and contents insurance     __________
2.    Car insurance                __________
3.    Car tax                          __________
4.    Income tax                    __________

       Annual total:      __________

Don’t Forget:
Note on your annual budget the month that these bills are due, so that you can be sure funds are in your account to meet them. Car tax and insurance are likely to be due at the same time—the anniversary of buying the car—so that could prove an expensive month.

Top Tip!
It works out cheaper to pay for such things as insurance upfront each year. Companies make money by charging interest if you choose to spread the premium over the year by paying on a monthly basis.

Reprinted from A Girl's Guide to Money, by Laura Brady with permission from Ulysses Press and Axis Publishing Ltd.