Do you wonder where your money goes?

In a perfect world, you should have money left over at the end of the month. But in the real world is different:

• Bills can take you by surprise.
• There is less cash in the bank than you hoped.
• Saving never seems possible.
• A payday loan seems tempting.

Maybe the daily worry about where your money goes each month is causing stress: with so much to take care of it can be hard to keep track of your money day-to-day. It doesn’t have to be like that.

The Money Course is a budgeting course. It is designed to give you the tools you need to get on top of your finances.

• Learn how to create your own budget.
• Discover practical tools to manage your money day-to-day.
• Gain simple tips to control your spending and get your budget to balance.
• Set some simple, achievable savings goals.
• Talk through issues of debt and sensible use of credit.

The course runs in small virtual groups, and takes about 2 hours altogether. It is suitable for everyone, especially for those whose finances are a bit out of control. Of course, it’s free. And there is even the option of one-to-one support at the end of the course if you need more help.

The money course is run by Crosslight Advice. You can click here to choose a date and register for the Money Course now.

Better still: earn a bonus for your budget

Having a budget is a great step forward to a better financial future. Now you can earn a £25 bonus for taking that step.

Once you have built your budget you can claim your £25 bonus by sending an email to office@acorncb.co.uk. The email should give:

1. your membership number.
2. a screenshot of your completed budget, either or the phone app or your browser (you’ll probably need two screenshots to get the whole picture).
3. your budget will need to show planned and actual spending.
4. and a bit of proof for one income item, e.g. pay or benefits, and one expense item, showing on a bank statement (again screenshot will do).

If you are not a credit union member yet, you can still get the bonus by opening an account to have the bonus credited.

There are regular virtual Money Courses run for small groups, in daytime and evening, book here to get started and the £25 bonus will soon be yours.

We are grateful to the Illegal Money Lending Team for funding this bonus. It’s their mission to stop loan sharks. If you know of a loan shark, report them on 0300 555 2222 or at www.stoploansharks.co.uk