start by getting all your bills and receipts from the past year, and see what you *actually* spend p/an on food, bills, rates, rent, clothes, books, outings, presents, alcohol, gym, petrol, public transport, newspapers - everything.

then work out where you can cut a bit back, if you can anywhere.

then allow for you to put aside $$ for each "area" every fortnight. and for savings.

I actually used to have envelopes marked "rent" "bills" "train" "slush" (pocket money) etc.

and then stick to it.

and if you don't have receipts, ask friends with a similar household to you if they will share what they allow, to give you a starting point. I did this at the start, to try to predict what our initial gas, electric, water, phone etc bills would be.

once you've got that drafted, keep solid track of it all, and then work out what you need to allow more for, and where you can trim back spending.

HTH