Budgeting help

How can I get free and confidential money guidance or information?

You can get free and confidential financial information by contacting one of our financial inclusion officers using the form below.

You can access help on:

• Budgeting
• Saving
• Saving money on energy bills
• Small debt advice
• Combatting arrears
• Benefit entitlement

Money Helper

It can be difficult to manage all the different bills and payments in our lives. The consequences of not paying off some bills before others can be more serious.

The Money and Pension Service have developed a Bill Prioritising Calculator that can help you sort your bills and payments in the right order and tell you what you need to do if you’re struggling to pay before you miss a payment. For more information, please visit: Bill prioritiser by MoneyHelper.

There are also some other useful tools and calculators that will help you quickly work out the figures you need for some of the most common money situations you may find yourself in.

The Money and Pension Service have easy-to-use calculators can help you budget, save and cut back on costs. They can help you find impartial advisers, find out how much you might have in retirement, tell you how much extra money you need to plan for a family and much more. For more information, visit Tools and calculators.

Paying your energy bill

Many energy companies have support funds and hardship grants available for customers who are struggling with their energy bills. If a resident is in debt to their energy supplier, they might be able to get a grant from the supplier to help pay it off.

• British Gas Energy Support Fund
• Scottish Power Hardship Fund
• Ovo Energy Fund
• E.ON Energy Fund
• E.ON Next Energy Fund
• EDF Energy Customer Support Fund
• Octopus ‘Octo Assist Fund’

If residents can’t get a grant from the supplier, they might be able to get a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust. 

These grants are available to anyone - you don’t have to be a British Gas customer to be eligible.