Motivation to give your finances a boost in January is at its highest – but if you take on board our brilliant expert tips, too, then you can keep them in order all year round.
Here Money Mail talks to six leading financial and money experts about how they plan to budget and save themselves money in 2025.
Set the target of saving £500 in a day
If you find it a chore doing financial admin in dribs and drabs, blitz it all in a single day – and set yourself a target.
‘When I have a quiet weekend in January, I set myself a target of clawing back say £500 and I’ll work towards saving that,’ says Brian Byrnes, head of personal finance at Moneybox, the saving and investment app.
‘I’ll do this by switching my phone contract, selling some unused items and – dare I say – some unwanted Christmas presents.
‘Doing it all at once means it doesn’t seep into your day-to-day life.’
Byrnes admits he can manage it only once a quarter, but he explains for him it is better than doing it every week because ‘financial admin can really suck your energy levels’.
‘I will always have a running list on my notes app on my phone of things I need to get round to,’ he says. ‘It’s mostly non-urgent stuff which I’ll let build up and set aside time to get through.’
If you take on board our brilliant expert tips, you can keep your finances in order all year round (picture posed by model)
Dry January savings can go in an account
Ditching alcohol is one of the most common resolutions as people try to make healthier choices after a booze-heavy Christmas. To help keep yourself motivated – and improve your savings pot – tuck away the savings into a top-paying account or even a pension.
Tracy Crookes, chartered financial planner at Quilter Cheviot, says: ‘Participating in Dry January for health reasons is a great idea, but it can also be an opportunity to save money.
‘Try calculating your average monthly spending on alcohol. Then, put that amount into a savings account.
‘You might be surprised at how much you can save, providing a financial boost for the year.’
Four pints a week at an average price of £5 will cost you £80 a month.
‘Throw in a couple of takeaways and you’re looking at £110 worth of outgoings for the month.
If you put that into an easy-access savings account with an average 4.5pc annual interest rate, you’d have £114.95 by the end of the year. If you were to avoid alcohol and takeaways all year, you would save £1,320, accumulating interest of £59.40 by this time next year. You could put your Dry January savings into your pension, which, if saved for 38 years, would give you £12,168 based on 5pc investment returns after fees. If you saved that same cash every month for 38 years, you would have £149,400, says Hargreaves Lansdown.
Get your kids to sign a contract
Natasha Etherton, Evelyn Partners’ financial planning director, says one of her main resolutions is to help herself budget by ensuring her children understand the value of money. By setting them firm boundaries, there is less opportunity for her discretionary spending to get out of hand buying them whatever’s wanted.
‘It seems harder and harder as the years go by, especially with teenagers – so it needs an annual re-set,’ she says.
‘In the first week of January, we discuss what chores they will do to earn their pocket money.
‘I will buy them anything they need – but this does not include the £44 TikTok mascara or gaming vouchers.’
Setting intentions is all well and good but ensuring that you stick to them is the hard part, so Etherton makes sure her children are aware that their pocket money is conditional.
‘We get them to sign a contract on the understanding that missed homework or not completing chores means a deduction from the monthly pocket money. Luckily they haven’t yet figured out these contracts aren’t legally binding,’ she says.
Link weight loss to financial goals
If you are resolved both to lose weight and to save money during this year, then money blogger Lynn Beattie, aka Mrs Mummypenny, suggests linking them in order to kill two birds with one stone and improve your motivation.
She explains: ‘For every 1lb lost, £10 goes into savings and so on. This will rely on a weekly weigh-in.
Lynn Beattie, aka money blogger Mrs Mummypenny aims for 15,000 steps a day, so if she can hit 105,000 steps a week, she adds another £10 into savings
‘Along the same lines, link your step count to savings.
‘I personally aim for 15,000 steps a day so if I can hit 105,000 steps a week, I add another £10 into savings.
‘Based on a 2lb a week weight loss, there is the potential to save around some £100 a month which will make £1,200 in a year – plus there are plenty of health incentives.’
Have a financial date night
Brian Byrnes, from Moneybox, swears by a financial date night with his partner.
‘It can be occasionally difficult to get on the same financial page as your partner and we know money issues can be a major contributor to separations and divorce,’ he says.
‘So it’s a good idea to take any emotion out of those conversations and make them fun.
‘Buy a bottle of wine, play some music and start talking about your individual and collective goals. You can also go through all your subscriptions and see whether you can make some savings by merging your accounts. The aim is to make sure that you have a dedicated conversation, rather than one at 9pm on a random Tuesday when you’re tired.’
Byrnes and his partner have a financial date night every two months and he explains that he has ‘definitely seen the benefit’. He adds: ‘Speaking our financial goals out loud to another person also greatly increases your accountability.
It’s also a good thing to do in the dark, cold nights of January and February.
‘If you’ve just discussed what it’s all for and what you’re working towards – a holiday, anniversary, retirement – it makes those months a bit easier.’
If one person is less keen in the couple, Byrnes suggests that they pick the location or choose how you go about it to make it fun for both.
Carla Morris, a senior financial planner at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, never saves passwords when she logs into a website, to help her avoid spending sprees
Passwords and bank details
Carla Morris, a senior financial planner at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, has a plan to make it easier to stick to her resolution to shop less in 2025. She is going to detox her phone to keep her shopping habits at bay.
‘Tapping our cards or Apple Pay has become second nature,’ she says.
‘Digital currency just does not provide the same financial spending awareness that counting physical cash used to provide.
‘After the New Year break, I want to spend less so removing all shopping apps from my phone is my first step.
‘For additional protection from a spending spree, I never save passwords when I log into a website.
‘That creates another obstacle to impulse spending, which can be just enough to make me pause and rethink when I’m browsing in my spare time.’
Sorting a will is an easy win
It might seem a little morbid to think about death over the festive period, but wills are usually overlooked and are a quick and easy win during January.
David Gibb, chartered financial planner at Quilter Cheviot, says: ‘It is amazing how many people say getting a will written is on their to-do list but never get it done. People should make it their resolution to get this critical piece of financial planning done.’
Sorting a will is a fairly painless process and you don’t necessarily need to hire a solicitor to write one if you’re confident you can properly draft one.
That said, solicitors are regulated so you will have more protection if something goes wrong and they can help you avoid missteps.
While you’re at it, David recommends sorting out a power of attorney, which lets you appoint someone to make decisions about your health and finances if you are unable to yourself.
‘It’s the practical safety net most of us don’t think about until it’s too late,’ he says.
‘Getting your will and power of attorney may not have the same bragging rights that cutting out alcohol for a month does, but they are powerful and practical acts that help your family and yourselves when times get tough.’
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