Practical steps to feeling more confident about finances with Barclays LifeSkills

Barclays LifeSkills can help you support adult learners you work with to think more confidently about money.

When circumstances change, particularly when these aren’t within an individual's control, they can slip into a negative mindset*. It’s important, therefore, to help your learners to feel more confident and positive when dealing with their finances, and know where to find ongoing support and advice. Highlighting to your learners the importance of talking about their concerns and seeking help is imperative to feeling more financially confident.

How can LifeSkills support?

1. As a starting point, encourage your learners to review their current financial situation, as this has been shown to help people regain a sense of control*
2. Help them to reflect on, and perhaps write down, what they are already doing well, such as managing a budget, paying bills on time or asking for help
3. Next, consider the things that are within their control, such as meal planning, comparing prices between service providers, seeking deals on clothes or buying pre-owned goods. It might also be valuable to identify particular sources of stress to focus on, for example: rising energy prices, upcoming bills, inflation, and changes to national insurance payments
4. Explore useful activities to understand their current income and spending habits in the Taking control of your income  module, to help with understanding payslips and income from other sources, including benefits
5. Provide support to help them to create a budget that tracks income and expenditure with the Planning your personal budget module, which includes a customisable budget planner

What’s next?

Once you’ve gained an understanding of your learners’ current situation, you could explore other useful modules such as:

• Raising awareness of effective budgeting, priority bills and impact of poor money management with the Managing your debt module
• Support your learners to develop a positive mindset with the Overcoming setbacks module which includes top tips and a virtual, interactive delivery option to suit your learning environment

Simply log in or register for free to access all the free modules in our Understanding and managing money category and more, including activities on a range of employability related topics from CVs and interviews, to problem solving and communication.

*Aegon Financial Wellbeing Index, How you can improve your financial wellbeing.