The New Year is an ideal chance to make some changes to your personal finances. After the expenses of Christmas, Boxing Day sales and New Year’s Eve celebrations, you will more than likely want to cut back on spending anyway – especially with what seems like an eternal wait for January payday.
Many people use January as a time to take control of their finances and set goals and intentions for the year ahead. But despite our best intentions, a recent survey by YouGov found that 16 per cent of people who made a New Year’s Resolution last year failed at keeping them. More often than not, the promises we set for ourselves are so huge that it’s impossible to know how to achieve them.
Liz Hunter, director at Money Expert, says that instead of making massive life-changing pledges, the key to achieving a financial goal – whether that’s to rid yourself of debt, save a certain amount of money, or increase your pension pot – is setting habits. The goal is what you want to achieve by the end of the year, but the habits (the things you do regularly) are the process that’ll get you there.
Liz has set out 10 small money habits that will change your finances in 2025 and bring you closer to your financial goals.
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1. Monitor your bank accounts
Regularly checking your bank accounts means you’ll know exactly what’s coming in, what’s going out and what you can afford to spend right now. Even better, it means you can stop problems in their tracks, whether that be fraudulent charges, ongoing subscriptions you don’t really need or simply being a little too close to your overdraft (and the fees that come along with it) than you’d like.
So throughout 2025, make checking your accounts a priority. This might be a weekly sit-down session where you review what you’ve spent and what you’ve got left to spend – or, if it feels more achievable – a quick balance check once per day.
2. Regularly review your bills
Bills might be essential, but this doesn’t mean they are set in stone. Setting aside some time to go through your energy, broadband and phone bills a couple of times in 2025 and beyond could potentially save you hundreds of pounds.
Use comparison sites to see if you could reduce your monthly or annual outgoings for broadband, TV and mobile services, as well as car, home, life and pet insurance payments – especially if you’re out of contract or it’s due for renewal. If you do spot cheaper deals, it’s always worth haggling with your current provider, who will often be keen to keep you on board.
3. Track non-essential spending
Reviewing your non-essential spending could greatly impact your financial health in 2025. Once every few months, take a look at your bank statement and write down what you’ve spent in the previous month and why. It can be helpful to split these into categories – for example, eating out, takeaways, gifts for friends/family and clothes shopping.
Once you’ve got the figures in front of you, it should be easy to see where you can cut back. This way, you can adjust your spending and direct money to where you need it more, such as into your savings account or to pay off debt.
4. Consider your savings options
If you’re new to savings or just getting back into the idea of setting cash aside for a rainy day, be careful that you aren’t simply putting your money into a separate current account. In 2025, it’s well worth spending some time considering your options and opening a designated savings account.
Your money will work harder, as the bank will pay more interest on the money you pay into your account. A good place to get started is an instant-access savings account, which means you can pay in and take out money whenever you need to.
As you build up your savings, look into other options, such as a fixed-term savings account where you lock away your money for a set period in return for a higher interest rate. You could also consider one of the many types of ISA, where you can earn tax-free interest.
5. Automate your savings account
Life is busy, which means transferring money into your savings account might be the last thing on your priority list. That’s why, if you’re able to, setting up a standing order from your current to your savings account is a great way to automate the savings process.
Scheduling it to go out immediately after you get paid is a good idea, too. This means it will become a priority over your non-essential spending rather than just saving whatever happens to be left in your account at the end of each month.
6. Create pots for special occasions
Having an everyday savings account is a great idea, but having to dip into it for Christmas, birthdays and summer holidays can make it feel impossible to build a substantial fund. Instead, consider creating a savings pot for specific occasions that you know you’ll need extra funds for each year. Most online banking apps allow you to set up unlimited pots and automate the amount you put in each month.
For example, you might choose to put £20 a month into your Christmas pot. This means you’ll have £240 to put towards your festive spending once December rolls around, without having to take it out of your main savings account.
7. Turn on round-ups in your banking app
If you find saving difficult, then turning on round-ups in your banking app is a great way to save while you spend in 2025. This works by rounding up anything you spend to the nearest pound and putting the difference into a savings pot or account.
For example, if you spend £3.70 on a coffee three times a week, your bank will round this up to £4. The app will automatically put the 30p difference into a separate pot/account for you which, over a year, would add up to an extra £46.80 saved. In fact, according to the bank Monzo, round-ups help its customers save an average of £129 extra every year.
8. Sign up for loyalty card schemes
Not having a loyalty card is likely to mean you’ll pay more for your shopping – especially at supermarkets. Even if it seems like a faff, it’s well worth signing up for loyalty cards and schemes in the shops you use the most and making a habit of using them.
For example, research by Which shows that signing up for a Tesco Clubcard could save you 7 per cent on your shopping, while Co-op claims its loyalty scheme could save regular customers up to £300 per year.
Most schemes allow you to build up points and vouchers, too, which is essentially free money to spend in-store. Remember, most loyalty schemes offer digital versions of their card, so you don’t need to clutter up your purse or wallet to benefit.
9. Aim to only buy what you can afford
Money Expert’s own research into Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services in the UK revealed that 15 per cent of UK adults are missing important bill payments to ensure they have the money to meet a BNPL deadline, while one in six (16 per cent) are missing BNPL payments regularly.
The danger of BNPL services is that they encourage you to overextend your finances and buy things you might not usually be able to afford. Many people don’t realise that BNPL is a form of credit, which means missed payments can have a detrimental impact on your credit score and impact what you’re able to borrow in the future.
So while it can sometimes make sense to spread the cost of purchases, aiming to save up and buy items outright wherever possible is a healthy habit to form in 2025.
10. Become a more intentional buyer
Shopping for items you don’t need – but spontaneously notice – can add up fast. Being more intentional with your spending in 2025, using the tips below, will lead to a much more financially healthy year:
Create lists: When you think of an item you genuinely need, add it to a shopping list. Use this list to control what you spend your money on and re-consider impulse purchases – if it’s not on the list, do you really need it?
Use the 48-hour rule: If you spot something you really want to buy but don’t necessarily need, wait 48 hours before buying. This gives you enough time to consider the purchase and research other options to make sure it’s worth spending your money on.
Research and compare prices: If you have something specific in mind, look for the best deals, compare prices online and seek out discount codes before buying.
Beware of sales and special offers: Avoid being taken in by extreme discounts. If you don’t need an item, then you aren’t saving money by getting it at a lower price.
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