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We all know that the new year is a great opportunity to take stock and make plans.
And while there’s always noise about “new year, new you”, the reality is that most of us are just trying to get through December without feeling overwhelmed.
With Christmas spending climbing every year, (the average UK adult is expected to spend around £461 this Christmas!), it could be easy to start 2026 already feeling behind.
With a few small actions, you could end the year feeling more in control of your money.
And this isn’t about cutting back on presents or squeezing every pound. It’s about looking at your finances in a more holistic way.
These five steps are simple, actionable, and designed to help you end the year with a bit more clarity. They’ll also set you up with some good habits - so you can hit the ground running in January.
A quick look at what’s coming in and going out can give you a surprising sense of relief. No spreadsheets. No judgement. Just a few minutes of awareness.
Christmas can blur everything. A glance at your banking app helps you see what’s actually going on. Patterns. Surprises. Things you forgot about. It turns vague stress into something you can understand, which is always easier to manage.
One practical action you can take:
Open your banking app and scroll back through the last two weeks. Cancel one subscription you no longer need. That’s it.
Life has a habit of happening when you least need it to. Jobs shift. Kids get sick. Boilers break. Thinking about how you’d handle a bump in the road helps you feel more steady.
If you freelance or have an irregular income, this matters even more. And if you’re employed, it’s still worth checking what cover you already have through work.
One practical action you can take:
Check your savings and note how many weeks of essentials they’d cover. Don’t change anything now. Just know the number.
Your home is often your biggest outgoing. A quick check before the new year can help you avoid surprises.
If you rent, think about whether your current place still works for your needs next year. If you have a mortgage, simply check when your deal ends. That alone gives you a sense of what’s coming.
One practical action you can take:
Find out the exact date your mortgage fix ends or, if you rent, when your contract renews. Put it in your phone calendar with a reminder a month before.
If you’ve got cash sitting untouched, inflation quietly eats into it. Even small amounts can work harder for you with a simple savings or investment step.
You don’t need to overhaul anything. Just get familiar. Confidence grows quickly once you start learning in tiny, manageable bites.
One practical action you can take:
Move £20 – or whatever feels comfortable – into a separate savings or investment pot. A tiny step tells your brain: I’m doing this.
There’s always something we avoid. An old pension. A will. A question about retirement. These things sit on our mental to-do list for ages and drain energy quietly.
Facing them – even in a very small way – gives you a real sense of control.
One practical action you can take:
Find the log-in details for one old pension or write down the provider’s name if you don’t have the login yet. Just that.
You don’t have to fix your finances before January. You don’t have to be “good with money.”
But a bit of clarity will undoubtedly help you end the year feeling more informed, and that’s always a good place to start.
Our simple Financial Health Check (that takes less than 5 minutes) can help you quickly identify gaps, understand how things are now, and what you need to do next.
Try it free today.
Welleness is a women-led business on a mission to close the gender finance gap for good. We offer women a clear, confident and caring pathway to financial health – zero jargon, no pressure.