8 easy money hacks for 2025

A new year is the perfect time to start being even cleverer with your cash

New year’s resolutions can often feel intimidating and hard to keep up. But if getting on top of your money is one of them, here are eight ways to make it easier.

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Pay yourself first

When we get paid most of us do all of our spending that month and save whatever’s leftover (if anything). Instead, do it the other way round. On payday, set aside some money into your savings account straight away, before spending money on anything else. That way you’re guaranteed to save at least a little bit every month.

If you’re worried about forgetting, you can set up a standing order from your current account to your savings. And remember, how much you save can be flexible. Even if you start with £10 a month, that’s something, and you can always increase it if you think you can save more. 

And don’t be disheartened if you transfer money to your savings and then have to dip into them later on in the month – that’s what they’re there for.

Switch on those banking notifications

Not only can notifications from your bank help you keep on top of what’s going in and out of your account, they can also alert you to fraud and payments that you’ve not actually made. 

Low balance alerts will also give you time to move money into your account to avoid overdraft fees. 

Make train refund dates

With the trains as they are, make sure you’re claiming for all the times you arrive late by 15 minutes or more. I’m a fairly regular train traveller and I’d say I’m delayed more often than not. 

This year, promise yourself to keep on top of your Delay Repay refunds. If you use the train a lot, make a note of each time your train is delayed (and by how long) on your phone. And if you’re not confident you’ll remember to make a Delay Repay claim form after each journey, make a date each week to do it. That way you’ll be well within the 28 days claim deadline.

Subscribe/unsubscribe from marketing lists

Signing up to your favourite retailers lists is a great way to find out about any sales or discounts that could cut the cost of what you’re going to spend anyway. However, getting sent loads of marketing emails can also lead to temptation and overspending.

Make a decision about where you stand with receiving these emails and either unsubscribe from them all or sign up for the ones that will save you money. If you do sign up, it’s best to use a dedicated email address to stop your usual one getting clogged up with offers.

Explore your bank’s budgeting features

Over the last few years budgeting apps have gone downhill and many of them have started to charge.

But your bank might offer some decent budgeting tools for free so they’re worth exploring.

For example,  your bank might offer savings pots. You can often set up a few which help you organise your money and achieve specific goals, like saving for a holiday, paying your tax bill or clearing your credit card. Some banks, like Monzo and Starling, also let you set up regular automatic payments to each pot so you can save without thinking about it.

Another useful feature is the ‘round-up’ tool, which many banks, including Chase, Starling and NatWest offer. Opt in and every purchase on your debit card is rounded up to the nearest pound and stashed in a separate account, so you can save with very little effort. The key here is ensuring the spare change that’s been rounded up isn’t languishing in a savings account paying a piddly rate of interest.

Set up standing orders for multiple accounts

If you’re a bit of a current account tart (as most of us are) you’ll know many of them require a bit of admin, especially when it comes to meeting minimum monthly deposits. 

For example, if you’ve got a Club Lloyds account you need to pay in £2,000 a month to avoid the £3 monthly fee. Make sure you’re automating these payments by setting up a standing order so you can meet the account requirements. 

With the Club Lloyds account the £2,000 doesn’t need to stay in the account so you can also set up other standing orders to move the money to make sure you’re meeting other payment thresholds elsewhere.

Rotate streaming services

Most of us are paying for more than one TV streaming service like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ at the same time. But are you really getting the most out of them? If you’re paying monthly you can usually cancel at any time, so in 2025 why not try rotating your streaming services so you’re only paying for one a month?

In the unlikely case that you run out of things to watch on that particular service you can always take advantage of free online platforms like BBC Iplayer, Channel 4 and ITV.

Set financial reminders

You can’t be expected to remember everything, so put important financial dates in your calendar. This could include the week before your phone, mobile or broadband contract comes to an end to give you time to search for a better deal. And if you’ve got a mortgage, mark six months before it ends in your diary.