Six steps to make your finances fit for the New Year

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By Andy Pow

Are your finances feeling a bit tight following overindulgences during the festive period? Most of us start the New Year with a few resolutions but how many of us put our finances first?

At Medics’ Money we are firm believers that if your finances are in good health then this will leave you with fewer things to worry about. Making changes does not have to be drastic if you follow some simple steps.

1. Review your existing expenditure

How many of us have signed up to a TV subscription package we no longer watch, are paying utility bills which are out of contract and haven't been reviewed recently, or may even still be paying for that gym you joined last January and still convince yourself that you will go next week?

iStock.com/ Nanci Santos

The answer I suspect is all of us do one or more of these on a regular basis. So the first point of action in the New Year is to review what you are spending, list out all those regular payments, and work out how much they're costing you annually. The challenge should then be to reduce these by either stopping those you really no longer need or negotiating better bills for utility costs.