8 satisfying ways to spring clean your finances and start afresh
With the 2025/26 tax year approaching and the cost of living remaining high, find out 8 ways to spring clean your finances and enjoy a fresh start
Spring has sprung, and at this time of year you might be feeling especially positive about your future.
New life is all around, so why not breathe new life into your finances with an annual “spring clean”?
Here are eight satisfying ways to do so.
- Get rid of unused subscriptions
Subscription services are everywhere, from TV deals to protein supplements and everything in-between.
The thing is, you might once have signed up to a subscription that you simply don’t use. Or several, in fact. A survey by YouGov Business found that of those who hold subscriptions, only 38% have used them all in the last six months. The remaining 62% had services they pay for but simply do not use.
Now is the perfect time to review all the subscription services you pay for and cancel any you don’t use. These small savings could be greatly satisfying and may add up to a substantial amount over the course of a year or more.
- Explore better rates for your savings
Your cash savings are integral to your financial plan, because they can be used to cover emergency costs, pay for one-off luxuries like holidays, and generally act as a buffer.
But if you passively top up your cash fund year-to-year without paying much attention, you might not know whether your savings are earning a competitive rate of interest.
Moneyfacts reports that, as of 17 March 2025, the best rate available on an easy access account is 5%. It’s worth checking how much your savings are earning currently and looking into a more lucrative account if you can.
Even a small increase in interest payments could help you grow your funds. For instance, £10,000 would grow by £500 in an account paying 5% annual interest.
Whereas, it would only grow by £350 if your funds received 3.5% interest. This difference of £150 in “free money” adds up, especially when you’re trying to grow your wealth in line with – or beating – the rate of inflation.
- Take stock of your financial habits
Your financial habits are likely a combination of your upbringing, life experiences, lifestyle, and other influences like your partner and friends.
It never hurts to take the time to review how you’re spending, saving, and investing, and ask yourself whether these habits serve you.
Think about:
- Whether you have been able to meet your financial goals in recent years
- If not, which financial habits might have impeded your progress
- How you might be able to alter or quit these habits where possible
- Helpful strategies that will help you meet your goals.
To help hold yourself accountable, you may wish to conduct your “habits spring clean” alongside a partner or trusted friend.
- Check for errors on your credit report
In October 2024, Which? revealed that 32% of people who have checked their credit report in the last five years discovered a mistake.
Perhaps even more worrying is that while 45% of respondents had checked their credit score in the last few years, just 25% had checked their report, which contains many of the details that really matter.
Even if you aren’t planning to take out credit soon, it would still help to:
- Use one or all of the UK’s credit agencies (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, for example) to review your full credit report.
- Raise any mistakes you discover to ensure they are corrected.
Ticking this task off your list will be constructive and, most likely, helpful for your finances in future.
- Measure your emergency fund against your essential costs
We often stress the importance of having emergency cash saved away in case of unexpected costs, like needing to buy a new car or repairing a leaking roof.
Normally, it’s best to have between three and six months’ essential expenses put away. That is, the money you must spend every month, like your mortgage repayments, utility bills, and food costs.
If you made your emergency fund several years ago, it’s wise to measure its value against your existing costs. You may find that if your outgoings have risen since you set up your fund, the money in your emergency fund is no longer sufficient.
Knowing this sooner rather than later means being able to top up your fund and gain peace of mind.
- Track down old pension pots
Your pensions are important, there’s no doubt about that. Worryingly, if you have had several jobs since you began your career, there may be pension wealth in your name that sits dormant.
As we covered in another in-depth article, there is around £20 billion lying unclaimed in UK pension pots. If you are on the road to retirement, now could be the perfect time to trace old pensions and assess the best way for them to make gains before you retire.
- Prepare for the 2025/26 tax year
The 2025/26 tax year is almost here. To make the most of what’s to come, you could begin thinking about:
- Maximising your savings and investments from the outset
- Keeping track of your expenses if you expect to self-assess
- Catching up with the latest legislative changes regarding tax, investing, and pensions – our news page is a good place to start.
By taking the time to prepare your finances and knowledge for the tax year ahead, you’re more likely to hit the ground running when 6 April arrives.
- Check in with your Kellands financial planner
If you already work with a financial planner here at Kellands, you might have an annual review booked in already. In which case, it could be useful to complete all the above steps before you sit down and take a look at your wealth in closer detail.
However, if you aren’t a client here but want to learn more, let your spring clean motivate you to contact a financial planner and talk about your goals today.
Email us at hale@kelland.co.uk, or call 0161 929 8838.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loans secured on it.