Health and fitness resolutions and financial resolutions are the most commonly set heading into a new year, yet they’re also the most easily broken.
Whether it’s choosing to save a set amount each month or spending less on takeaways, nights out and clothes, almost three fifths are keen to try again, but one in five have thrown in the towel.
Lots of people have already given up on their New Year's Resolution
The team behind money saving website www.MoneySavingHeroes.co.uk conducted the research as part of an ongoing study into Britons attitudes towards their recently set New Year’s resolutions.
Asked what sort of resolutions they’d set themselves, more than three fifths were around health and fitness, whilst others were based around their finances, bucket list goals and were career-orientated. Asked if they’d managed to keep them so far, 72% said they had already failed their financial resolutions and almost half had already failed their health and fitness resolutions.
The top financial resolutions that had failed two months into the year, with 82% stating that they had more one than one financial resolution in place, were found to be:
- Save a set amount each month - 45%
- Spend less on takeaways - 32%
- Not use any form of credit (i.e. credit card, overdraft or loan) - 30%
- Spend less on nights out - 31%
- Spend less on clothes - 28%
Asked why they’d set themselves financial New Year’s resolutions, the reasons why were found to be ‘to save up for the future, i.e. a house, a car, a holiday, etc.’ and ‘to get myself out of debt’.
George Charles, spokesperson for www.MoneySavingHeroes.co.uk, commented:
“Having failed at a New Year’s resolution doesn’t mean that you have to throw the towel in and wait until 2020 to try again. There’s no time like the present. We’re all going to slip up along the way, but what matters is that you make a conscious effort to do better with your finances for the sake of your future. Whether that’s clearing your debt or saving for the future.
“There are many people around to help if you need guidance or advice and even a tonne of apps you can download to help monitor your spending and even help you to save.”
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