More than 15 million Brits are making a New Year’s resolution to sort out their finances in 2023 to combat the rising cost of living, new research from eToro finds.
A survey of 2,000 UK adults by the social investing network eToro found that 57% of Brits plan to make a New Year’s resolution this year, with more than half of this group (51%) opting for a
money-related goal as one of their pledges. This was a higher percentage than any other traditional resolution – with 50% planning to set a health & wellbeing goal, 45% aiming to improve their fitness, 35% targeting personal development and 25% pledging to spend more time with family.
Among those aiming to improve their finances, the most common goal is budgeting, with 52% planning to get better at this in 2023. Meanwhile 40% want to start investing for their future, 38% plan to build up an emergency fund, with the same proportion (38%) hoping to start a side hustle to bring in more cash.
Sam North, analyst at eToro, says: “The cost of living crisis is dominating the headlines and it’s clearly making people think carefully about how they’ll get by next year. Saving more or budgeting are always popular resolutions, but the fact they are the most common New Year’s resolution this year, as households are being hammered by rocketing costs, says a lot.
“While we’re all hoping financial pressures will ease in 2023, Brits are clearly planning to fight back next year by improving the way they manage their money, rather than burying their head in the sand.”
Encouragingly, Brits have a better track record of keeping money-related resolutions than any other type, eToro’s research found. Of those who set money-related goals at the start of 2022, 29% are still going strong, while 21% lasted six months and 16% made it to the end of March. By comparison, just 24% of those who made fitness resolutions and 23% of those who made health and wellbeing goals are still keeping them.
For those who did not manage to sustain their financial resolutions in 2023, the most common reasons for stopping were too many expenses (52%), struggling to keep pace with the rising cost of bills (51%) and inflation (41%).
Respondents were also asked about some of the most unusual resolutions they have made in past years, with examples including pledging to read Kapital by Karl Marx, aiming to get on television, planning to get a girlfriend before the end of the year and collecting every McDonald’s Happy Meal toy.
