When you first step out into the world of work, there is so much to consider, not least how to pay for items such as work clothes, housing, reducing college debts, and a social life. But there are plenty of things you can do to help yourself financially.

The most obvious is to move back in with your parents. This may not be appealing, but can save a small fortune on rent. Even if just for a year or two, this gives you time to take control of your career and finances and make the transition without taking on more debt.

Setting out a budget will also help. Cutting out non-essentials is a good way to lower your costs, but if you really want to save substantial sums of money you need to draw up a detailed annual budget. This will help you see clearly how much you spend and on what, and help you to see where you can make savings.

Doing this accurately should take a couple of hours, and ideally you’ll need to gather a years worth of bank and credit card statements together so you can see not only monthly outgoings but big annual expenses that you make.