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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I look back at previous monthly spends, it gives you perspective on what you are wasting money on.

I have opened a Lloyds account which offers a save the change feature, so all my spending will be rounded up to the nearest pound. Every time I log into my online banking I'll then round up my savings to the nearest £1, £5 or £10 according to how much I can afford at the time. Hopefully this will help build my savings without me really noticing.

I plan to add a small amount to my (currently empty) savings account each month so I have a little set aside to use in an emergency.

I've been checking prices online before buying anything (including food prices on my supermarket.co.uk) - I'm going to continue to do that and stock up when things are on offer even more than I did this year. We don't have much random expenditure but I think we could save money on newspapers by reading more news online, for example. I'm also going to only buy stuff I really need - it's so easy to be tempted!

As every year in January I will look for a saving account with reasonable interest rates, maybe a regular payment one to save money for house and children. I will also review my ISA and the money paid in savings. I have to budget for my next holiday too.

My resolution is to continue as I'm doing... Buy presents etc in January during the sales, stick to only sale shopping but because I am going to be on mat leave I think I will also try to reduce my spending on random bits if rubbish. Oh, and also pray for DH to get a job- can that count as a resolution?

I'm a SAHM to our 5 DC so my DH's salary supports us all. Our income is going to shrink in the new year and we're already on a very tight budget. The only saving I think I can make is to our food budget but there are definitely savings to be made there. I might need to look for a weekend/evening job but we'll see how it goes. I will not get into debt. There is nothing I want enough.

Plan jobs around doing up the house and save the money up first rather than using a credit card. It will take longer but will be an incentive to save. I am also going to shop around with energy and insurance as I never do this as I always think it will be too much hassle.

Stick to budgets and to enjoy being paid again. Am returning to work after mat leave!! 😆

I'll be doing a full money makeover as we have dropped one full time salary.
Starting with the no or low pain changes eg utilities and insurance supplier changes then rethinking our food spend.
I also need to go through the pain of selling a few items on eBay.
31st Dec is when I pay off my mortgage 4 years early so that will help too.

I plan to set up a budget spreadsheet and stick to it! Pay off the credit cards (which got a hammering over Christmas ) and start to save as much as possible. Setting aside money each week is a good idea, I think I might do the 52 week challenge, just move the decimal point and do it backwards so start with £5.20. And DH and I need to sort out life insurance.

I keep saying that the 'next month' will be the one where we stop spending so much... 2016, I'll actually mean it :D

We've also set up saving pots, which I'll continue saving into next year - one for Xmas and MOT, and I've started another for birthdays as we have a block of birthdays in about a month which crippled us last year.

Also want to stick to our credit card budget every month (food/petrol only) and put money into our house savings fund.

Then again, I'm also launching a business next year. So my good intentions could all go wildly astray...

I'll try to be more consistent with good habits which are,
Trying not to buy anything I don't need.
Using charity shops when I do need something.
Continually reviewing my spending and looking for ways to save

And cut down on the bad habits which are,
The occasional splurge on clothes or shoes
Coffee and something, out in a coffee shop
A new one of going to the big supermarket and doing a big shop. It's too easy to chuck extra bits in the trolley.
Alcohol and nibbles every weekend

I will be going back to making a meal plan, making a list and doing my supermarket shop online for delivery.

No holiday this year.

I am planning on decluttering the house and hopefully making enough money to cover holiday spends by methodically going through rooms and listing items on ebay. I also plan to try and track my spending to get an idea of where I can make better financial decisions

I must get round to moving my ISAs - the interest rate dropped suddenly and I've not moved them yet.

My aim is to save £1k per month...£500 towards a house deposit and £500 towards topping up maternity leave as we'll try for baby #1 from March.

I've done a lot in preparation the past week or so:

• Used a comparison website to reduce my energy bills from £70 to £38 per month

• Switched from shopping at Waitrose to Lidl which saves me £160 per month

• Cancelled the cleaner which saves me £116 per month

• Me and my friend with cats have pledged to be each other's 'cat lady' when we're on holiday saving £10 per day during holidays

Plus we've made a budget which details every penny and have set up a diary reminder to review how we're doing against it.

My financial resolution is to pay a little extra off the mortgage each month. Even if it's just an extra £50, I'll feel more in control of the giant debt.

I am going to loosen my reins a little. Live more in the moment. We have saved for years and it gives you a restrictive tendency.

We will be implementing a family budget. Properly accounting for all expenditure and having a spreadsheet to keep track of where we are. Like some upthread we will have additional childcare costs to pay, which means that we will have to be properly structured in how we do things. We will also continue to shop round more for (eg) insurance, and my own personal resolution is to stop buying coffee out.

I need to cut down on treats in the supermarket and to pay more into my pension and savings whenever I can.

Use eBay more, saved a fortune at Christmas!

Drink less, therefore spending less on booze.

I'm going to be really careful with smaller spending on things I don't really need. At times I'm really good but then I'm not. I want to save this year so we have a buffer. I'm trying to keep the food bill to a minimum too. Not easy, but doable.

I'm going to actually save properly for Christmas this year. With both DCs birthdays in November the budget always goes a bit wrong towards the end of the year. This year I'm saving £150 per month to cover it

My plan is to spend some of the money I have put aside for a new bathroom. I need to get on with it instead of dithering.
On the savings side, check out ISA rates, and I hope for a big win on Euromillions. The ISA interest might just about cover a ticket once a week.