Four ways to sort out your financial life in 2024

This article is the latest part of the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign

Following a year of financial shocks and budget squeezes in 2023, you may well be resolving to start the new year with a new money regime. But what simple changes could yield the biggest financial return for the least effort?

FT Money Clinic podcast experts share four top tips below. Subscribe to the show for a (free) weekly dose of personal finance inspiration in the year ahead.

1. Master the jam jar method

Even the affluent need to budget. The jam jar method of separating money into different pots is as old as the hills, but it’s effective. It has also been given a digital update with the ability to create separate “pots”, “jars” or “spaces” within your online bank account, and automatically allocate separate sums into these on payday.

The tricky bit is setting up a system, but Twixtmas — the period between Christmas and New Year — is the ideal time to plan ahead.

“If you only do one thing, setting up a separate bills account can be transformational for your finances,” says Sara Williams, an experienced debt adviser who runs the Debt Camel blog and Instagram account.

After totting up your regular monthly payments, set up a direct debit to transfer your share to the bills account (couples with divergent incomes may want to think about the fairest ratio). Keep your fixed costs separate and it’s obvious how much you have left to spend, save or invest.

“I like to think of my savings as sitting in three separate jars,” says Timi Merriman-Johnson, a financial adviser better known online as Mr Moneyjar. “You have your emergency fund in an easy access savings account; a separate account for things you want to do within a year or two like holidays or a big life event, and then anything over and above that can be invested in the stock market for the long term.”

Williams also recommends setting up “sinking funds” for putting aside money monthly for…