Your Financial Regrets of 2025: What They Can Actually Teach You
January is when the internet pretends your life will change because you bought a new notebook.
We're not doing that.
Instead, we're doing something more useful: looking at the patterns that quietly mugged you in 2025 - and replacing them with simple systems that run in the background while you get on with… being a human.
Because your 2026 will look a lot like your 2025 unless you change the defaults.
If you do nothing else after reading this, do this: Pick one section. Spend 10 minutes. Set one system. That's it!
1. The subscriptions you forgot to cancel
You didn't "choose" most of your subscriptions. You drifted into them.
And a lot of companies design it that way: one tap to join, a scavenger hunt to leave.
Citizens Advice found UK consumers spent £688 million on unused or accidental subscriptions in the last year - and 40% of people said the subscription renewed without them realising. [1]
That's the average Brit wasting £39/month on subscriptions they don't use, according to NatWest. [2]
The fix: a 12-minute subscription audit (quarterly)
Put four "Subscription Audit" events in your calendar now (March / June / Sept / Dec).
Then, when it pops up:
Open your banking app (Monzo, Starling, and Lloyds all have built-in subscription tracking)
Filter for Direct Debits / recurring card payments
Ask one question: "Would I buy this again today?"
If not: cancel it immediately
Here's a tiny script (for the companies that make you call them like it's 1997):
"Hi - I'd like to cancel my subscription today. Please confirm the cancellation date and that no further payments will be taken."
2. The rewards you left on the table
Quick reality check: you spent money in 2025. (Shock.)
ONS data shows average weekly household spending was £623.30 - roughly £2.7k a month. [3]
Now, here's the useful bit:
Even 1% back on that is about £324 a year. For doing… basically nothing different.
Credit card cashback: usually small, but easy
Most UK cashback credit cards offer between 0.25% and 1% on everyday spending - with the higher rates often requiring minimum spend thresholds or coming with annual fees. [4] [5]
Cashback apps/sites: often higher, but you have to remember to use them
This is where you can see much higher percentages - especially via shopping portals or retailer-specific offers. TopCashback says many members earn £300+ a year on average, depending on shopping habits. [6]
But here's where it gets interesting: with Chest, cashback rates with partner brands average around 8% - significantly higher than the 0.25–1% you'd get from a standard cashback credit card.*
The extra edge: cashback that goes long-term
Here's where Chest does something different: instead of cashback sitting in your account waiting to be accidentally spent, we contribute it directly into your pension.
Pension contributions can benefit from tax relief - which means your £100 cashback could become £125 (or more if you're a higher-rate taxpayer).** Same spending. Bigger future.
The fix
Stop juggling twelve different loyalty apps hoping to remember which one works where.
Pick one system you'll actually stick with. Ideally one that captures the value automatically - and puts it somewhere it'll grow, not somewhere it'll get spent on a random Deliveroo.
Then make it the default:
Install the app
If you do your grocery shop on the same day every week - set a reminder in the morning to check for cashback
Or, pre-buy that cashback code before you head to the shops
Your spending stays the same. You just stop leaving free money on the table.
3. The pay rise that vanished (aka lifestyle creep)
That pay rise didn't disappear. It got quietly converted into "nicer versions" of your existing life.
Brewin Dolphin found that 26% of people earning £100,000+ are living pay cheque to pay cheque - with no money left at the end of the month. [7]
Earning more doesn't automatically mean having more.
The fix: the "raise split" rule
When your pay rises, split it immediately:
40–60% to future you (pension/savings/investing)
The rest to present you (enjoy it, guilt-free)
Example: got a 5% raise? Bump pension contributions by 2% and enjoy the other 3%.
The key is speed: do it before the new income becomes normal.
4. The conversation you avoided
There was a money conversation you needed to have this year. And you didn't have it.
Maybe it was salary.
Maybe it was asking your employer what they actually contribute to your pension (and whether they'd match more if you put in more).
Maybe it was talking to your partner about how you split finances.
Or maybe it was the simplest one: calling your broadband or mobile provider and asking for a better deal.
Because here's the annoying truth: one awkward conversation can be worth real money.
Salary: most people don't ask (even though it often works)
Salary.com found that only 37% of people always negotiate their salary - and 18% never do. Ever. [8]
Meanwhile Fidelity found that 87% of young professionals who negotiate get at least some of what they asked for. [9]
Translation: the odds are better than your anxiety is telling you.
Bills: one call can pay you back all year
Citizens Advice found that people who call and negotiate for money off their bills can save more than £325 a year combined across mobile and broadband. [10]
That's not "optimising". That's… a holiday fund for a weekend away. Or a few months of pension contributions. Or just less money leaking out of your account.
The fix: pick one conversation and schedule it in January
Don't "try to do it soon". Put it in the calendar.
Tiny script for that call with your broadband / phone provider:
"Hi - I'm reviewing my bills. I'm out of contract / nearing renewal. What's the best deal you can offer to keep me? If you can't improve it, I'm going to look to switch."
If you hate calls, write it down and read it. If it feels awkward, do it awkwardly.
The discomfort lasts minutes. The benefit lasts years.
5. The "I'll start in January" loop
This is the meta-regret that powers all the others.
Throughout 2025, every time you thought about sorting your finances - consolidating pensions, fixing contributions, setting up a plan - a voice in your head said:
"I'll deal with it properly in January."
But "January" isn't a plan. It's a postponement in a party hat.
And here's the truth: your future self isn't more organised than you are.
They're the same person, just later, with the same habits and different excuses.
The fix: do one 10-minute action today (choose from this list)
Pick one. The goal is momentum.
Find an old pension provider's contact details using the Pension Tracing Service.
List every workplace you've had (even if you can't find the pension yet) - then use the tracing steps to hunt them properly.
Increase your workplace pension contributions (and check whether your employer will match more).
Set a "payday split": automatic transfer to savings/pension the day after you're paid.
Cancel one subscription you don't use (just one - you can do the rest later).
Put a "subscription audit" in the calendar for March/June/Sept/Dec so it never becomes a yearly guilt-ritual.
Install one cashback tool you'll actually use and test it once (buy something small and confirm it tracked).
Make the annoying phone call (broadband/mobile/insurance/etc.) and ask for the best deal.
Imperfect action beats perfect inaction - because once a system is running, it keeps working in the background.
The best time to start was January 2025. The second-best time is today.
So, what now?
None of these regrets mean you're bad with money. They mean you're living in a world where friction is placed in the wrong spots - and you've got better things to do than micromanage every decision.
Pick the one financial regret that made you wince.
Do one small action this week.
That's how you stop 2026 looking like 2025.
*Rates vary by brand. T&Cs apply.
**Cashback contributions into your pension are discretionary and subject to terms. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances and may change. Capital at risk when investing.
Sources
[4] MoneySuperMarket - "Best Cashback Credit Cards" (December 2025)
[5] Which? - "Best cashback and reward credit cards" (December 2025)
[6] TopCashback Help - "How much can I earn?"
[8] Salary.com - "Most People Don't Negotiate Due to Fear & Lack of Skills"
[9] Fidelity - "Fidelity Study Shows Young Professionals on the Move…" (press release, 24 December 2022)
Pensions are an investment product. Capital is at risk when investing. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change. Cashback contributions are discretionary.
