How to Get Richer in 2025: Six Top Money Experts Reveal Their Seven Purposes and the Tricks They Use to Reach Their Financial Goals

Motivation to give your finances a boost in January is at an all-time high, but if you also take into account our brilliant expert advice, you’ll be able to keep them in order all year round.

Here Money Mail speaks to six leading money and financial experts about how they plan to budget and save money in 2025.

Set a goal to save £500 in one day

If you find it difficult to do financial management tasks in dribs and drabs, do it all in one day and set a goal.

“When I have a slow weekend in January, I’ll set a goal of getting back, say, £500 and I’ll work to save it,” says Brian Byrnes, head of personal finance at Moneybox, the savings and investment app.

‘I will do this by changing my phone contract, selling some unused items and, dare I say, some unwanted Christmas gifts.

“Doing it all at once means it doesn’t bleed into your daily life.”

Byrnes admits he can only manage it once a quarter, but explains that it’s better than doing it every week because “financial management can really drain your energy levels.”

“I’ll always have a running list in the notes app on my phone of things I need to do,” she says. “These are mostly non-urgent matters and I will let them develop and set aside time to finish them.”

January dry savings can go into an account

Giving up alcohol is one of the most common resolutions when people try to make healthier choices after an alcohol-filled Christmas. To stay motivated and boost your savings fund, keep savings in a higher-paying account or even a pension.

Tracy Crookes, chartered financial planner at Quilter Cheviot, says: ‘Participating in Dry January for health reasons is a great idea, but it can also be an opportunity to save money.

‘Try to calculate your average monthly expenditure on alcohol. Then, deposit that amount into a savings account.

“You may be surprised at how much you can save, giving you a financial boost for the year.”

Four pints a week at an average price of £5 will cost you £80 a month.

‘Add a couple of takeaways and you’re looking at £110 in monthly expenses.

If you put that into an easy-access savings account with an average annual interest rate of 4.5%, you’d have £114.95 at the end of the year. If you avoided alcohol and takeaways all year, you would save £1,320 and accumulate interest of £59.40 by this time next year. You could put your Dry January savings into your pension, which, if saved for 38 years, would give you £12,168 based on a 5% investment return after fees. If you saved the same money every month for 38 years, you would have £149,400, says Hargreaves Lansdown.

Have your children sign a contract

Natasha Etherton, director of financial planning at Evelyn Partners, says one of her top resolutions is to help herself budget by making sure her kids understand the value of money. By setting firm boundaries for them, there is less opportunity for their discretionary spending to get out of control by buying them whatever they want.

“It seems more and more difficult as the years go by, especially among teenagers, so an annual reset is necessary,” he says.

‘In the first week of January, we discuss what tasks they will do to earn pocket money.

“I’ll buy them everything they need, but this doesn’t include the £44 TikTok mascara or gaming vouchers.”

Setting intentions is all well and good, but making sure you follow through with them is the hard part, so Etherton makes sure her kids know that their pocket money is conditional.

‘We make them sign a contract with the understanding that missing homework or not completing household chores means a deduction from monthly pocket money. Luckily, they haven’t realized yet that these contracts are not legally binding,” he says.

Linking weight loss to financial goals

If you’re determined to lose weight and save money this year, money blogger Lynn Beattie, also known as Mrs Mummypenny, suggests linking the two together to kill two birds with one stone and improve your motivation.

She explains: ‘For every pound lost, £10 is saved and so on. This will depend on a weekly weighing.

‘In the same vein, link your step count to your savings.

‘Personally, I aim to get 15,000 steps a day, so if I can hit 105,000 steps a week, I add another £10 to the savings.

“Based on a weight loss of 2lbs a week, there is the potential to save around £100 a month, which will generate £1,200 in a year, plus there are plenty of health incentives.”

Have a financial date night

Moneybox’s Brian Byrnes is betting on a financial date night with his partner.

“Sometimes it can be difficult to be on the same page financially with your partner, and we know that money issues can be a big contributor to separations and divorce,” she says.

‘So it’s a good idea to take any emotion out of those conversations and make them fun.

‘Buy a bottle of wine, put on some music and start talking about your individual and collective goals. You can also review all your subscriptions and see if you can save some by merging your accounts. The goal is to make sure you have a dedicated conversation, rather than one at 9pm on a random Tuesday when you’re tired.’

Byrnes and his partner have a financial appointment every two months and he explains that he has “definitely seen the benefit.” He adds: ‘Talking out loud about our financial goals to another person also greatly increases your responsibility.

It is also good to do on the cold, dark nights of January and February.

“If you just talk about what all this is for and why you’re working (a vacation, an anniversary, a retirement), those months will be a little easier.”

If one person is less interested in the partner, Byrnes suggests choosing the location or choosing how to do it so it’s fun for both of you.

Passwords and bank details

Carla Morris, senior financial planner at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, has a plan to make it easier to stick to your resolution to buy less in 2025. She’s detoxing your phone to keep your shopping habits at bay.

“Using our cards or Apple Pay has become second nature,” he says.

‘Digital currency simply does not provide the same financial spending awareness as counting physical cash.

‘After the New Year holidays, I want to spend less, so the first step is to delete all shopping apps from my phone.

‘For added protection against overspending, I never save passwords when I log in to a website.

“That creates another obstacle to impulsive spending, which may be enough to make me stop and rethink when I’m browsing in my free time.”

Ordering a will is an easy win

It may seem a little morbid to think about death over the festive period, but wills are often overlooked and are a quick and easy win during January.

David Gibb, chartered financial planner at Quilter Cheviot, says: “It’s surprising how many people say writing a will is on their to-do list but never get around to it.” “People should resolve to carry out this critical part of financial planning.”

Ordering a will is a fairly simple process and there is no need to hire a solicitor to draft it if you are sure you can draft it correctly.

That said, solicitors are regulated, so you will have more protection if something goes wrong and they can help you avoid mistakes.

While you’re at it, David recommends getting power of attorney, which allows you to appoint someone to make decisions about your health and finances if you can’t do it yourself.

“It’s the practical safety net that most of us don’t think about until it’s too late,” he says.

“Getting your will and power of attorney may not have the same bragging rights as giving up alcohol for a month, but they are powerful and practical acts that help your family and yourself when times get tough.”