Who doesn’t love a New Year’s resolution? Like many people, you might have chosen to kickstart the year by setting yourself new goals and challenges.
Even with healthy intentions and cast-iron willpower, most New Year’s resolutions are tough to keep up – so as we approach the end of January, give yourself a pat on the back if you’ve made it this far without quitting. Whether it’s cutting back on alcohol or adopting an entirely new diet, sticking to your newfound goals and letting go of past behaviour is tricky.
One thing you might not have considered is that by undertaking these challenges, you could have inadvertently also saved yourself some money. Now that we are a few weeks into 2024, let’s take a closer look at some of the potential financial benefits of our New Year goals.
Dry January is one of the most common month-long challenges for the first month of the year. It’s about cutting back on alcohol and was actually first started as a campaign by Alcohol Change in 2013.
Dry January is an opportunity to reverse some of the overindulgence we’ve all been guilty of throughout the festive period. While it is nice to treat ourselves sometimes, it’s important to ensure we don’t cause any health problems – which is exactly what Dry January is about.
The first outing of Dry January showed that seven out of 10 people that took part went on to drink with less risk than before. Of course, drinking less alcohol comes with the added benefit of more money left in our accounts at the end of the month.
So, you might be wondering “how much money can I save by drinking less alcohol?”
According to For perspective, that’s nearly as much as is spent on meat and fish and equates to more than 3% of the typical UK household budget.
Over the course of a month, the average person stands to save £76.80 while participating in Dry January. If a person were to substitute their alcoholic beverages for non-alcoholic drinks (of which cost the average household £5.60 a week according to Statista), taking part in Dry January could save you as much as £54.40.
£54 is not an insignificant amount of money. Just imagine what you could do with those savings if you put that money into a savings account. That could form a nice rainy-day fund or be used towards something you’ve had your eyes on.
The challenge is simple: eat an entirely vegan diet for the whole of January, no exceptions.
Whatever your opinion is on veganism, Veganuary is a nice challenge to take part in for two reasons: eating less meat comes with environmental benefits, which is great if you’re trying to do your bit for the planet, plus a lot of vegan food is quite healthy.
Despite these positives, it’s clear not everyone is convinced about going vegan. A quick Google search around veganism, for example, returns suggestions of “Why is vegan food so expensive?” or “Is vegan food expensive?”. Despite this concern, a 2021 study by Oxford University may prove you wrong.
The study compared the cost of seven sustainable, vegan diets to the current omnivorous diets present in 150 countries, while gathering pricing from the World Bank’s International Comparison Program. It found that, in most countries, vegan diets were the most affordable.
So, not only is veganism a great way of being environmentally friendly and healthier, but it can also even save you money. What’s not to love?
It’s tricky to pinpoint the exact cost of a vegan diet, as there are some foods in an omnivorous diet that don’t have immediate vegan alternatives, like eggs, for example. But, with the UK’s average weekly food shop costing around £34.50, we can assume that trying Veganuary could save you as much as £45.54 thanks to many vegan diets costing roughly a third less than omnivorous ones.
Many of us choose the new year as a means of becoming healthier. One major part of that revolves around our relationship with food; specifically, how often we eat at a restaurant.
Leading restaurant table management software provider, OpenTable, held a study in 2015 that sought to discover how much the average UK person ate out and how much they spent while doing so.
According to OpenTable, the average Brit eats at a restaurant 1.5 times a week, spending as much as £53 per meal while doing so. That adds up to roughly £4,000 spent a year.
Cutting this back to just once a week brings the total expenses to around £2,700 and cutting it down to once a month brings the total cost to £636 – that’s a major £3,400 saving.
Going hand in hand with our point above, another health-boosting factor that many of us take up in January is all about our fitness levels.
Joining a gym tends to be a little cheaper in January as gyms look to capitalise on those setting health-focused New Year’s resolutions.
Average monthly costs of gym membership can sit anywhere in the £40-45 range, but some gyms may lower their prices to just over half, or maybe even exactly half this cost to entice newcomers.
Do you have a gym membership that you’ve not used? You’re not alone. A study by Fridge Raiders in 2019 revealed that only 12% of British people actively use their gym memberships. That works out to approximately £480 a year being wasted by each person.
So, instead of throwing away nearly £500 a year, why not try exercising at home instead? You can of course choose to enrich your exercise with fancy equipment, or you can start for free with everyday household items; or nothing at all.
If you’re looking to save more in 2024, we at Aldermore can help. Take a look at our personal savings accounts today to see how easy it is to find the right home for your money.