By Moira Stuart and Adam Shaw Presenters of Cashing In

Ever tried to cook? Well, if we follow the trendy chefs it all seems terribly easy - easy that is, until we try to do it ourselves.

When we try it, the ingredients just don't seem to blend together to create that superb culinary state of perfection.

No - in our case, the sauce has curdled and the sponge cake seems to have acquired terminal depression.

Sadly, the same is often the case with our money.

Whet your palette with Moira and Adam's recipe for financial success

Over many years most of us have collected an array of financial products and services, all of which seemed like a good idea at the time.

You have most probably ended up with an odd collection of monetary ingredients, all of which would create a financially foul tasting hotch potch, rather than fulfilling all your financial needs.

So how do we get ourselves into a position where we can ensure that we have the right financial recipe for success?

The first thing to do is to clearly establish what exactly we are trying to achieve.

If the chef is clear about what his fabulous dish will taste like when cooked, then we have to be precise about our own financial goals.

Moira and Adam had at least one satisfied customer

For example, what will we need to retire on to keep us living in the manner we have become accustomed to?

Well, first and foremost, we need to do an audit check of what we have already.

Most of us will unearth a mish-mash of assets (the things we own) and liabilities (the things we owe).

Below we've laid out what we call a Personal Balance Sheet.

It simply shows all the key areas of our finances. Some of these we may not know the value of, but all the more reason to find out.

If companies complete them annually, then why shouldn't we take the same disciplined approach to our personal investments?

Just by adding together our main assets, most of us are likely to be pleasantly surprised at how much we really do own.

It's time to get rid of your duff investment ingredients

Include your pension, any life assurance values and any other investments you may have including shares, PEPs and ISAs.

Once you've done that, write down all your debts, including mortgages, store and credit cards.

These liabilities are easier to remember as we are reminded about paying these on a remarkably regular basis.

Once listed, just subtract the total of what you owe from the total of your assets.

Now you know your net worth, we can work out what we need to do to build up our finances enough over future years to be able to live comfortably and achieve our goals.

It's time to get rid of your duff investment ingredients.

Yes - you know the ones we mean - the old jar of pickled chestnuts that have lurked at the back of the larder for some years!

In our view this balance sheet should be updated annually so that you can see the progress you are making towards your goals each year.

This financial audit effectively gives us a health check and means that any investments or debts that are going wrong can be identified and dealt with as soon as possible.

Shamefully, we still have trouble with my cooking and cannot effectively imitate the fabulous culinary creations of the masters.

But when it comes to finances, whilst we're happy to seek professional help, at least we know we have the right initial recipe to make our financial sponge cakes rise to perfection, and avoid any soggy monetary dumplings.