Make 2023 the year you stick to money resolutions

TRICIA PHILLIPS REVEALS EIGHT WAYS TO ENSURE YOU GET YOUR FINANCES IN SHAPE

MILLIONS of us make resolutions to start the New Year by getting to grips with our money problems.

And the most common wish is to save more, with one in eight determined to put money aside, according to research by financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown.

To do this, and also help to make ends meet, one in 10 plan to spend less, while one in 20 told the firm’s survey they would shop around more for the best possible deals.

Other goals at the top of the financial resolutions list include paying off debts and putting more into pension pots. The last year has been “a nightmare financially for millions, but we’re not giving up,” says Sarah Coles, the firm’s senior personal finance analyst.

“A third of us are making plans to get back on top of our finances in 2023.

“It’s a mark of how difficult things have been for younger people that they’re far more likely to be making resolutions, including three out of five of those aged 18-34. Good everyday money management is top of the list for this group.

“Meanwhile, the squeezed middle – aged 35 to 54-year-olds have saving and paying off debt as their top goals. But people over 55 are least likely to make financial resolutions, with less than one in five planning to do so.”

Unfortunately, despite all our best laid financial plans and promises, many of us will fail to keep them.

It doesn’t take long before we throw in the towel and we’re back to our old habits in mid-January.

Yet it’s not strictly our fault as lifestyle changes are really difficult to achieve. So if you are going to make a success of your financial resolutions for 2023, you need a helping hand and we’ve got just what you need.

We’ve teamed up with Sarah to bring you eight ways to help you stick to your resolutions:

1. Budget to make it happen

Whether you want to save or invest more, or pay more into a pension, you need to be absolutely sure that you can afford it, and the only way to be really certain is to think overall about what you have coming in, what you need to spend, and what you can cut in order to free some money up. 2.

Don’t set yourself a totally unachievable goal or something too far in the distance – you’ll give up eventually because you can’t make it work or get bored along the way. Ideally, you need just one or two smaller challenges you can achieve over the next few months, that will get you going and determined to do more. Once you’ve achieved those, you can set yourself some new ones. When working out your budget, and the spending cuts you can make, don’t go too far with them.

If you make life too difficult for yourself, it’s far more likely you’ll give up – instead it will pay to work out what you can live with over the longer term, and be realistic about it.

Be realistic about your aims 3. Be specific about your aims

Don’t be vague and just think up something like ‘get better at saving’ or ‘pay off debt’, because you won’t have a chance of getting there.

Set a goal like saving £30 a month or pay an extra £500 off the credit card by the summer. Then work out exactly how you’re going to get there.

4.

One in 10 people plan to spend less, and the easiest way to stick to this is not to make it too difficult . Start simply by making sure you shop around for the things you need to buy.

When it comes to groceries, for example, if you’ve traded down to own brands, consider budget brands, low-cost supermarkets, or discounters selling food close to best before date. Next cut anything you don’t get much value from: old direct debits are a good place to start, especially any subscriptions that you rarely use.

These steps should hopefully free up enough cash so you don’t need to give up anything you really love.

Don’t make cuts too hard 5. Prioritise your plans

If you can’t stick to everything, consider what’s most important rather than what’s easiest.

In financial planning terms, getting the right insurance in place is the first port of call for anyone who has people relying on them. After sorting that, those with expensive short-term debts should make paying them down the next priority.

If that’s all you have the cash for right now, it’s still a brilliant start.

6. Get your savings in order

The easiest way to stick to a savings plan is to set up a standing order for a regular sum to go from your account into a competitive savings account on the first day after payday.

By paying yourself first, the money will disappear before you have a chance to spend it. The same goes for anyone hoping to invest more or pay more into their pension.

You can set up regular payments so that you do the right thing every month without thinking about it. Start with a smaller amount to get you into the habit, so you won’t miss the money so much. And once you get used to that going out of your account, put it up a little if you can afford to. 7.

It is so much easier to keep your finances on track when you put temptation out of reach.

Work out what your Achilles heel is – it could be clicking on emails offering you a discount or browsing shopping apps when you are bored – and make them harder to access.

This could mean unsubscribing to emails from specific shops or pushing all your shopping apps back to the final screen on your phone so you’re less likely to be distracted by them.

Remove temptation

If you make life too difficult for yourself, it’s far more likely you’ll give up

8. Keep an eye on how you’re doing

This has two benefits – if you go off track you will spot it quickly so you can do something about it – and if you stick with it, you’ll get the regular reward of watching your finances gradually improve.

Or you can make a note of your starting point and your goal. Then update it as you progress so you can see your savings building up or your debt decreasing. It becomes addictive.

Don’t give up if you have a little blip and get sidetracked from your goal, especially early on.

It can take a while to establish a new habit, but after a few difficult days or weeks it can become second nature. So stick with it.

Take a bit of time to work out where you may have gone wrong. Were you too ambitious when you set your resolutions? Would it help to break things down into smaller goals to begin with?

Are you giving yourself enough credit for the things you are managing to achieve? Take a step back, and a deep breath, and get stuck in again.

Good luck!