If you’ve started the new year with a fistful of resolutions, look out for chances to align your lifestyle goals with your financial goals.
The most popular resolution for 2025 was to save more or spend less. Overall, nearly 3-in-10 of us made some kind of financial resolution from dealing with debt or starting to invest to earning more. Health-related resolutions also loomed large, whether promising to get fit, eat more healthily or ditch smoking or vaping. By taking actions that tackle multiple goals, you can bolster your chances of success. For example, taking part in Dry January can help your wallet as well as your waistline as you’ll be spending less money on alcohol.
Whether you’re fired up to spend less or exercise more, look for ways to combine your resolutions. You don’t have to spend a small fortune to achieve your goals, and you can put any money saved towards your financial resolutions.
Here are seven ways to get a double whammy of benefits.
1. Get ‘appy’
Rather than forking out on a fancy gym, look out for apps that can help you get fit for free. Try the NHS Couch to 5K app if you’re keen to start running. Or the free Nike Training Club app has a range of workouts across high intensity interval training (HIIT), Pilates, yoga, strength training and even mindfulness.
Apps such as WeWard, or Biscuit for dog owners, will even reward you for walking. Check out YouTube for fitness programmes from the likes of Joe Wickes and Yoga with Adriene.
Similarly if you’re keen to eat healthier, MyFitnessPal includes a free food tracker, while BBC Good Food has put together a selection of healthy eating plans.
2. Shop from the contents of your cupboards
Rather than being tempted to buy new stuff for the new year, use what you already have. Dig through your wardrobe rather than investing in new activewear, unearth those long-forgotten handweights from the loft, and use up the contents of your fridge, freezer and kitchen cupboards before buying new. Get creative – maybe you don’t need to buy handweights at all if you could use a couple of tins of beans. Your bank balance will thank you.
3. Set the savings aside
If you’re keen to quit a habit such as smoking or drinking alongside a financial resolution, why not give your savings a boost? Consider moving the cash you would’ve spent on your old habit into your savings account or a pension. Similarly, if you take a packed lunch to work rather than splashing out on a meal deal, set the savings aside. Seeing the money mount up could give you extra impetus to continue.
These might seem like small savings but once you get started, consider other ways you might be able to save. For example, if you have multiple pensions, you could be paying more than you need to in fees across different providers or pension pots. By consolidating them into one easy-to-manage online plan, you can simplify your retirement planning and may even find you spend less each year on fees.
4. Try and stick to second-hand
If there are things you really need and don’t have, look for ways to get them for less. You might not need to buy a new cookbook if you can find recipes online. Or consider borrowing a copy from your local library or picking one up second hand in a charity shop. If you need new clothing or household items try apps like Depop and Vinted rather than paying full price. Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and eBay can all be great sources of good condition, second-hand bargains.
5. Get prepared
Planning ahead can save a small fortune. For example, jotting down a shopping list based on nutritious meal ideas before heading to the supermarket could help slash your food bills compared to eating out or takeaways. Batch cooking and meal prepping, so you make multiple portions, can save time as well as money. By using a slow cooker or air fryer, you might even be able to shrink your energy bills as well.
Planning your favourite exercise into your daily routine can also help save money, if for example you start walking or cycling to work, rather than driving or using public transport.
6. Seek support
Tell friends and family about your resolutions so that they can support you in your efforts. Suggest meeting up for a walk, rather than a meal out or a shopping spree, and you can nail your health and financial resolutions at the same time. You may find friends who share the same goals, so you can spur each other on!
7. Stay accountable
Surround yourself with messages that encourage your resolutions, rather than chipping away at your willpower. Social media can be a great tool if you use it to stay accountable and track your progress, but less so if it makes you feel bad about yourself or tempts you to spend. Look out for accounts and podcasts that support your new habits and unfollow the ones that don’t. Join forums and groups that share similar aims, to get extra encouragement. Then go on an ‘unsubscribe’ spree on your email inbox, ditching marketing emails that dangle enticing offers.
Faith Archer is a Personal Finance Journalist and Money Blogger at Much More With Less. Check out Faith’s YouTube series about retirement planning.
Risk warning
As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.
