Slashing spending and building emergency funds top Brits’ new year’s financial resolutions

• 40% of UK adults plan to cut down on unnecessary or impulsive spending in 2025 – up from 24% who planned to do the same a year before
• A further 32% said they will start or build an emergency fund in the year ahead
• 57% of UK adults would put money in an ISA if they were given £10,000

Brits are tightening their belts and putting more money away for emergencies in 2025, according to new research from Wesleyan on the UK’s new year’s financial resolutions.

Of the 2,000 UK adults surveyed by Wesleyan, two fifths (40%) said they will reduce spending on unnecessary and impulse purchases in 2025, up from just under a quarter (24%) who said this was a resolution at the start of 2024.

Meanwhile, just under a third (32%) said they will start or build their emergency savings, up from just over a fifth (22%) last year.

The next most popular financial resolutions cited by survey respondents were starting or building savings for big ticket items and lifegoals (27% vs. 18% in 2024) and starting or building retirement savings (22% vs. 15%).

In general, just under half (47%) of those surveyed said they plan to save more in 2025. Only 7% said they planned to save less, with a third (35%) of this group saying they would like to save more but can’t afford to.

Wesleyan’s data also reveals most Brits are turning to ISAs for their savings. When asked how they would save a gift of £10,000 over a ten-year period, 57% said they would put the money in an ISA, with 35% choosing a cash ISA and 23% choosing a stocks and shares ISA.

Only 9% said they would put the £10,000 in a standard bank account, followed by 8% that said they would invest it in property and 6% that said they would invest in stocks and shares (but not in an ISA).

Linda Wallace, Managing Director of Wesleyan Financial Services, said, "The economic environment for many people is more stable than it was this time last year, but it’s clear that many are still worried about their finances as we head into 2025.

"ISAs are an extremely powerful savings and investment tool and its brilliant to see so many people are open to using them. We are now only a few months away from the deadline for ISA contributions for the current tax year, so anyone that is considering them now should act fast."

Methodology

Survey of 2,000 UK adults (nationally representative on the basis of age/gender/region), conducted between 18th to the 23rd December 2024.