5 Small Financial Habits That Made a Big Difference

When people talk about improving their finances, it often sounds like you have to make massive changes — sell your car, cut out every takeaway coffee, or somehow start investing overnight. But for me, it’s been the small financial habits that have made a big difference. Those consistent everyday habits have helped shift my relationship with money, and are now just everyday things.

Small financial habits: Checking my bank account daily

This might sound a little intense, but hear me out. I’ve never been scared to look at my bank balance, but sometimes I’d put it off. Now I get into the habit of checking in through the day to keep an eye on payments, see when money is coming in etc.

I don’t do it to stress myself out or track every penny, but just to stay aware. That awareness has stopped me from making impulse purchases when my balance is lower than I thought. And it helps me spot things early on.

The 24-hour rule for buying non-essentials (at least!)

Online shopping is way too easy these days, even in person shopping when you’re just tapping your card. I have a rule that if I see something I want and don’t need (or wasn’t on my shopping list already), I note it down and wait at least 24 hours, but ideally at least a week.

I use an app called thingstogetme to track the links and prices, and then I look back when I have a bit of money to see if there’s anything I want. A lot of the time I look back and I’ve changed my mind, or simply forgotten about the item. This small financial habit is a great way to cut out impulse purchases. And when I do go back and buy something, I know I actually want it.

Small financial habits: Setting calendar reminders for everything financial

I swear by setting reminders as if I didn’t I’d totally forget. I set reminders to cancel trials or subscriptions, or reminders a month before an insurance policy is set to renew so I can check prices.

So many times in the past I’ve signed up to a month free trial and then forgotten and paid for the first month when I never wanted to. Having reminders gives me time to work out next steps and avoid any nasty surprises.

Rounding up purchases into savings

While I don’t currently do this, I have in the past and it’s something I want to get back into the habit of. It’s a small financial habit, but it’s a bit of a game-changer for micro savings.

A lot of banking apps will let you round up every purchase to the nearest pound and then put the extra money into a savings pot. So if you spend £5.50 it will put 50p into savings.

It doesn’t sound like much, but those pennies add up faster than you’d think. It’s a great way to build a little cushion without even noticing it’s happening. I have Monzo plus and they even let you multiply the round-up amount to save faster.

Small financial habits: Doing a weekly ‘money reset’

I don’t have a set time of the week, but usually on a Monday morning I do a bit of a weekly reset for the week ahead.

I’ll check out what I spent last week, make sure my budget is on track and see what I have going on for that week. It means there shouldn’t be any surprises, and I can stay accountable.

Financial habits can make a huge difference

None of these habits are groundbreaking on their own. But added together, they’ve made a huge difference to how I manage money and how confident I feel with it. You don’t have to become a budgeting expert overnight — just start with one small habit, and build from there.

If you’ve got any other small financial habits please share them below.