How to get financially fit in 2024

It’s the start of a new year — a time when many of us look back on the last year and think about how we might do things differently in the year ahead.

If your goal for 2024 is to make your money go further, or get ‘financially fit’, we have some tips that could help.

1. Better your budgeting

Covering essential costs and managing lots of tempting ways to spend your money can really add up. And it can be hard to keep track of everything.

Having a budget can help you understand how much you’re earning each month, and exactly what you're spending on. And this can help you spot ways to cut back on spending, to help you reach your financial goals.

It may not be as hard as you think to draw up a budget. To get started:

1. Work out your monthly income after tax. This may include things like your salary, any benefits or tax credits, or any pension or savings income.
2. Work out your average monthly spend. One way of doing this would be to work out how much you’ve spent over a typical three month period, add it all together, and divide that number by three. This would give you your average monthly spend, based on those three months.
3. Work out how much money is left by deducting your average monthly spend from your income after tax.

If you don’t have enough left over for what you need, or you’d just like to cut down on expenses and start building up your savings, you can read:

• Our helpful list of budgeting techniques
• More support in our money management hub.

2. Get savvy with your savings

Even if you do have money left over to save each month, the idea of putting it away can be daunting — especially amidst the rising cost of living — but there are plenty of small steps you can take to start saving, especially if you’re planning for the months or years ahead.

Opening a savings account and setting up a monthly payment could help you get into a good habit of saving regularly. For example, you could set up a standing order each month so your savings are transferred into your savings account automatically and on a regular basis.

Plus, having a separate account to your main current account can help you keep track of how much you’re saving over a certain period of time. By setting your cash aside, having this separate account can also help you avoid the temptation of dipping into your savings.

It could also be worth setting yourself a savings goal — ask yourself, what is it that you want to save up for? Whether you want to save for new furniture, a holiday, or even a ‘rainy day’ fund, there are plenty of things you can save for; and having an idea from the start can help keep you on track.

There are plenty of ways to save with us. You can see which one would be most suited to you by comparing all our savings accounts.

3. Brush up on your borrowing

The new year could be a good time to review your borrowing commitments, such as any credit cards or loans you may have, and how you’re managing your debt repayments.

If you’ve got money saved up, it may make sense to repay your debts using these funds. The interest rate you’ll have to pay on debt can sometimes be a lot higher than the interest you earn on your savings, meaning you’d be paying more than you’re earning.

If you have credit card debt, you may also want to consider applying for a balance transfer credit card.

These cards allow you to transfer your existing credit card debt over to it, and will typically have a very low or 0% interest rate on any debt that’s transferred, for a set period of time. There’s usually a one-off fee to transfer the balance over.

We offer a range of credit cards, including a balance transfer card. You can check what’s best for you by comparing our full range of credit cards. And you can learn more about how credit cards work.