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A new year is a great time to try to change habits and set new goals. If you’re serious about managing your money well, it’s important to stay on top of your finances. If the holiday season has been rough financially or you haven’t felt as in control of your money as you want to be, here are 15 ideas for January financial goals to help you get back on track.
15 Ideas for January Financial Goals
Build or rebuild your emergency fund
Set a goal you want to reach for the month. If you have an emergency fund already, maybe you want to set a goal to rebuild it to a previous point.
Set a January “no-spend” challenge
Some people do a no-spend challenge for everything in their budget. If that feels too overwhelming, consider just choosing one area (like clothes or eating out). Take the amount you would have spent in that category and funnel it into another area of your budget.
Revisit your debt strategy
If you don’t already have a strategy to pay off your debt, decide if you want to do something like the snowball method or the avalanche method. (Here is a helpful video explaining the difference.) Set a small goal of money that you want to put toward debt this month.
Boost your retirement contributions
Increase 401(k) or IRA contributions by 1–2%. If contributing manually, set a consistent deposit schedule.
Start or refresh a sinking fun category
Common sinking funds include car repair and maintenance, vacations or travel, annual insurance premiums, and holidays. Yes, if you start saving for next Christmas now, December will be so much easier! Choose to put a small amount into the category this month to get it started.
Automate key financial tasks
Whether it’s bills, savings, or debt payoff, look into how to automate these transfers so you don’t even have to think about it!
Define your one big goal for 2025
Choose one big goal that you will start working on in January. Maybe you want to save for a down payment for a home, build a $10k emergency fund, pay off a debt, or increase your net worth by a specific amount.
Set a grocery budget cap for the month
Even if nothing else changes, deciding a hard limit helps rein things in after the holidays.
Do a 2-week “pantry-first” challenge
Use what you already have before buying more. If you do have to replace some items, try to wait until you see them on sale.
Pick one category to cut by 10–15%
Maybe you don’t want to do a true “no-spend” month, but you want to try to pick one category to spend less in. It might be groceries, eating out, Amazon, or kids’ activities.
Do a no-spend weekday rule for the month
Only spend on weekends or only on planned expenses. Alternatively, you could do the opposite and only spend on weekdays and not on weekends.
Track every dollar for one week
If you aren’t already tracking your spending, this is a great time to start. Sign up for a free trial of something like Every Dollar or YNAB, or just use pen and paper or a spreadsheet.
Do a digital financial declutter
Clean up your online banking, rename your savings accounts, delete old cards from retailers, and digitize any paper documents.
Pick one money “leak” and fix it
Is there an area of your life that is draining money quietly, so much so that you barely realize it? Identify it and try to address it in January. This might be drive-thru spending, late-night Amazon browsing, or forgetting to return things.
Meal plan one month at a time to reduce food waste
You already know that I’m all about meal planning! The new year is a great time to start this habit if you don’t already. If you don’t know where to start, you can check out all of my 2025 monthly meal plans.
Did I miss anything? Do you have any other ideas for January financial goals? Let us know in the comments!
