Share your financial new year’s resolutions with other Mumsnetters - chance to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher, courtesy of Lloyds Bank NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

With a bit of luck the festive period left you with LOTS of happy memories - but we all know that Christmas can leave bank accounts looking a little worse for wear. To help you into 2016, Lloyds Bank would like to know the financial new year’s resolutions Mumsnetters are making.

Here's what they say: "January sales, unwanted presents and resolutions - the new year will bring new challenges, but plenty of opportunities for those who are shrewd with their finances. We'd love to hear Mumsnetter's tips for starting the new year in financial style‎." - Lloyds Bank

So how do you make sure your bills stay in the black? Do you make a spending plan to control your budget? Maybe opening a savings account is the best option? Perhaps you give the credit card a well-deserved rest and pay everything upfront? Or do you have some money-saving habits you force yourself to get back into once the festive season is over?

Whatever your tips, Lloyds Bank would love to hear them.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw, and one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks,

MNHQ
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My new year's financial resolution is to pay off my two credit cards before going on maternity leave in March. I also hope to supplement my maternity pay by doing a few car boot sales and selling old/unwanted things. Whether that's a realistic goal with a newborn baby, I don't know... but I won't get the full maternity pay, as I have only been in my new job for nine months; therefore I need to find creative ways of supplementing my income. Some great tips on this comments page! Thanks, Mumsnet!

I've always followed my parents sound advice.. if you haven't got the money for something, save up until you have. It's stood me in good stead and I have remained debt free

I plan to make a monthly budget and stick to it then use the extra money to become debt free.

Most of our spare income goes on little trips to the supermarket through out the week. I spend £80 a week at Aldi already but find I often pop in to tescos when hungry & spend £20+. We are also taking part in dry January for a number of reasons but one of them is to save money.

Stop living payday to payday and do overtime to get at least a months outgoings together as a safety net

Any coin smaller then a pound is going into a jar towards trips for the summer holidays.
I done this last year and had nearly £300 by July.

I am going to set a budget on the household food (no biscuits for the little ones!) And also I'm opening an account that I can put 5 pounds a week in to pay for birthdays a.d Xmas as I've found if I don't save for them it all goes a bit wrong last minute

To try and save more money this year than last.

I'm going to be receiving an increased monthly income this year so I've resolved to put the excess away into a separate savings account to be used for emergencies. I'll check to see whether an ISA offers a better rate of return than an ordinary savings account as not all of them do!

I aim to save pennies wherever I can. I want to decrease water and energy bills by cutting down on unnecessary usage. I want to make meals go further by bulking them out with veg and lentils. I want to stop spending a £1 here and a £1 there on silly little things. Basically I want to end wastefulness

I am going to save £100 each month so I can pay for everything next Christmas from the savings. Every year I end up dreading the credit card bill in January and I am determined not to be in the same position next year.

to start saving a bit each month for next Christmas

I am going to save for a lovely holiday for me and the DC, instead of spending randomly and then having odd-but-nice short breaks.

We moved house and we have a list of things we want and will buy them through the year depending on how much we can afford.

Declutter, sell unwanted items, stop buying anything unless it is essential. Add to savings little and often. Meal planning....

Switch my utilities which I've been too lazy to do up to now, and use a weekly cash budget.

Just generally account for every penny rather than living in denial!

For the past two years I like to think we've been really on top of our finances. We were really heavily in debt a few years ago but managed to get that sorted out, and never ever want to be back in that position again, so these days credit cards are a total no-no and if we want anything, we save for it. That includes Christmas: we set up an instant access savings account which we pay at least £100 a month into, if we can put more we do. That way, Christmas is totally taken care of without worrying about how to pay for it.
I keep a running spreadsheet of every single expense we incur: from household bills to kids' school trips to a top-up trip to Tesco, every penny gets noted on there. That way we can see at a glance exactly what we've got left for the month, and if we can afford to be slightly indulgent or whether belts need tightening!
It sounds a bit boring, and we certainly don't do much spontaneously these days, but at least we know we'll never be back in that awful situation of spending nearly all our income on interest repayments!

I'm very frugal, I pay thing on time and even up front so I know what I have left.

Always use a cash back site to buy anything online.
Make use of 0% purchase credit cards to get through maternity leave.
Manage accounts online so you can keep track of everything.
Savings direct debit so you don't notice it going out.
Offset mortgage so mortgage repayments are lower.

We take out our 'fun' money (to cover anything except groceries, petrol, bills & savings) each week in cash and once it's gone, it's gone. Back in our DINKY days it was £25 each but now it's a tenner. Makes me think about whether I really need a £3 coffee!

My daughter is due to take her driving test this year and I want to save as much as I can so I can help her out with her car insurance.

I put money away each month for big bills like car insurance that charge you if you want to pay monthly. That way I can put it on credit card ( and earn air miles) and pay it off all at once.

We are always careful not to overspend at Christmas. This year rather than waste money on unwanted toys, we gave the older two a bit of cash to choose their own toys and then took them shopping after Christmas. So they actually enjoyed the double treat of finding cash on Christmas day under the tree and then getting another special day out to spend it. Overall it cost us less than feeling the need to spend loads on useless toys that clutter up the house so has left us in a better place financially for january.

My main financial new years resolution is to cut back on takeaway meals as not only is that bad for our health but it was the biggest unnecessary spend last year for us. I just need to be better organised at freezing up portions of meals and have some good storecupboard ingredients to prevent me from a panic and reaching for the phone at dinner time and calling for a takeaway!

So hopefully it will help balance our weight a bit as well as helping our bank balance!

To do a weekly shop, not pop to the shop for milk and end up spending £20. To sell unwanted and excess items like CDs, save the money to do things with dcs.

I am going to put a minimum of £20 a month into a savings account to help pay for next Christmas.