As 2024 winds down, it’s time to start thinking about the right financial moves to make in 2025.
The beginning of a new year is a great time to take a look at your finances and consider ways to set yourself up for the year to come. While everyone else is making resolutions, why not make more practical commitments to taking care of your financial health? Whether that means cutting costs, spending more wisely, or saving for the future, there are tons of opportunities available to you to make this your healthiest financial year yet.
In this article, you’ll find 5 top tips for keeping your finances in tip-top shape. Let’s take a look.
5 Ways to Keep Your Finances In Order This Year
1. Do a Subscription Check
As more and more companies move to subscription- and as-a-service-based models, it’s becoming harder to keep track of those sneaky recurring charges. Many services even rely on that fact! Research suggests that forgotten and unintentional subscriptions raise different subscription-based companies’ profits by between 14 and 200 percent.
With that in mind, now is a great time to take a closer look at what you’ve signed up for and any forgotten free trials that might now be charging you.
There are a few ways to do an inventory of your subscription fees. You can sign up for a service like Rocket Money, which can quickly review all of your accounts, or check for yourself. Many banking apps now have features that will gather your recurring charges for you to review.
These little charges can add up over time, so it’s worth considering your subscriptions to decide what you really want and need and make sure you’re not unwittingly paying for something you’re not using or never intended to sign up for.
2. Get To Know Your Coverage
While insurance documents – from health to home – might not be the most thrilling reading material, it’s important to know what is and isn’t covered and how much you’re paying for your various plans. By diving into the details, you can make sure the coverage you have is still right for you. You may even discover you can get a better rate by making small changes, like adding safety features to your vehicle.
You may want to change providers or shop around for better rates if something’s not working. Plus, a better knowledge of how your coverage works can help you avoid unexpected bills and get the most out of any plans you’re paying for.
3. Price Compare to Avoid Overpaying
There are two key factors at play that make this something you should do periodically if you want more money in your pocket. This first is broad trends in interest rates, inflation, and pricing. If you were locked into a high interest rate on a loan or a high price on a service a year or two ago, you may be able to refinance, renegotiate, or change providers now to save money.
The second factor is that many companies have built in price raises that mean the price you started at – for cable or your phone, for example – might have been a good price, but your current monthly fees may be much higher. This is another scenario where you may be able to lower your costs by changing providers or renegotiating with your current company.
Some services also offer discounts to members of certain organizations that could give you the opportunity to pay less. Spending a little time making sure you’re getting the best price available to you for the service you want can save you a lot of money in the long run.
If you want to know if you’re overpaying on your auto loan, you can get a free quote from Auto Approve right now and discover better rates available to you.
4. Take a Long-term View
Now is a great time to consider your finances in the long-term. Are you planning for retirement? Do you have an emergency fund? Is your will up to date? How about any life insurance or disability coverage?
Setting yourself up for this coming year really means setting yourself up for the foreseeable future, and surveys show many Americans are not financially prepared for the financial realities of getting older.
If you haven’t started yet, now is a great time to start a savings plan and work on creating a more financially stable future for yourself. Even on a tight budget, putting a small amount aside each month can make a difference.
And, if you’ve already begun setting yourself up, it’s a good time to review your asset allocation to make sure you’re getting the most out of your contributions and take a few minutes to check all your paperwork is in order in case anything should happen. And make sure you have the right professional guidance to keep things in order and on track.
5. Create a Plan
The last and most important thing you can do to have a financially fulfilling year is to take a look at your budget – or create a budget, if you don’t already have one – and make sure it aligns with your goals.
Your plan for the year could include saving for a vacation you want to take, putting more money aside for retirement, or consolidating debt to get a better rate and simplify payments.
Whatever your unique financial challenges and opportunities may be, take a look at the big picture of your finances and put together a plan. It’s the best way to make sure you’re financially better off at the end of 2025 than how you started it.
And Those Are Your Top 5 Tips for Better Finances in 2025
Ready to meet your financial goals? Put these tips to work today and you’ll be cutting unnecessary costs in no time. More money in your pocket means more money for the things that matter, whether that’s saving for the future or making meaningful purchases this year.
And don’t forget – to avoid overpaying on your auto loan, get a free quote now and see how much you can save with Auto Approve.