5 clever ways to spring clean your finances

March is the official start of spring, a season that’s traditionally linked to cleaning, decluttering, and new beginnings.

As such, it’s an ideal time to tidy up your finances and prepare for a fresh start when the new tax year begins on 6 April.

Here are five clever and satisfying ways to spring clean your finances.

1. Cancel unused subscriptions

Subscriptions can provide a convenient and budget-friendly way to pay for services that make your life easier and more enjoyable – from food deliveries to streaming your favourite TV shows.

However, the cost of multiple subscriptions can quickly add up, eating into your monthly disposable income and potentially limiting the amount you’re able to save and invest.

What’s more, you might end up paying for services you don’t use. Research by Citizens Advice reveals that consumers spent £688 million on unused subscriptions in 2023 due to:

• Subscriptions auto-renewing (40%)
• Forgetting to cancel after a free trial ended (39%)
• Subscribing accidentally (24%).

Now is the time to review your subscriptions and cancel any you don’t use. While the savings you make might seem small, they could add up to a substantial amount over time. Indeed, the Guardian has recently revealed that UK adults could save as much as £400 a year by killing off “zombie subscriptions”.

2. Review and update your pensions

Pensions are often one of the most valuable assets people own, yet it’s common to “set and forget” these crucial investments.

Unfortunately, failing to review your pensions regularly could mean that you save too little, pay unnecessarily high fees, or find your investments no longer suit your life stage and long-term goals. As a result, your retirement income may be lower than you expected.

In contrast, checking in with your pensions periodically is an effective way to ensure that your strategy reflects any changes in your life and accounts for relevant tax reforms. This could allow you to maximise every opportunity for protecting your wealth or passing it on tax-efficiently.

As such, spring is a good time to:

• Check where all your pensions are and how they’re invested
• Ensure that your beneficiary nominations reflect your current wishes
• Review your current contribution levels to ensure these align with your goals
• Seek financial advice to make sure that your pension strategy is as tax-efficient as possible.

It’s important to note that from April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits will be included in your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. You might benefit from speaking to a financial planner who can help you review and adjust your pension strategy and estate plans to account for this major rule change.

3. Automate positive financial habits

Staying disciplined about saving and investing for the future when you likely have many short-term, and sometimes unexpected, demands on your finances can be challenging.

However, saving and investing as an afterthought – something you only do if there’s money left in your account at the end of the month – could hamper your progress towards your long-term goals. What’s more, you might not have a sufficient buffer to help you cope with any financial shocks that arise.

Instead, consider “paying yourself first”. In other words, make sure that money goes to your pensions, savings, and investment accounts before you start spending.

There are plenty of digital tools and apps you can use to put these positive financial habits on autopilot. For example, you could use your banking app to set up automatic transfers so that a percentage of your salary goes straight from your current account to your savings and investment accounts, as soon as you receive it.

4. Make the most of tax allowances before the end of the tax year

The 2026/27 tax year is just around the corner. Here are a few important tax allowances and exemptions you might want to make the most of before they reset on 6 April:

• ISA allowance – In 2025/26, you can contribute up to £20,000 across your ISA accounts (contributions to a Lifetime ISA are limited to £4,000). Any interest or returns generated are free from Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
• Junior ISA allowance – Junior ISAs (JISAs) work similarly to adult ISAs and offer a tax-efficient way to save and invest. You can deposit up to £9,000 into JISAs for each child in the 2025/26 tax year.
• Dividend Allowance – No Dividend Tax is due on the first £500 of dividends you receive above your Personal Allowance (the maximum amount you can earn before paying Income Tax, which stands at £12,570 in 2025/26).
• Capital Gains Tax Annual Exempt Amount – You can make overall gains (after deducting any losses and applying any reliefs) of up to £3,000 on assets you sell or “dispose” of before Capital Gains Tax is due – this is your Annual Exempt Amount.
• Pension Annual Allowance – This is the maximum amount you can contribute to a pension each tax year while still receiving tax relief and without incurring additional tax charges. For most people, the pension Annual Allowance is £60,000 (2025/26). However, yours could be lower if you’ve already flexibly accessed your pensions or your income exceeds certain thresholds.
• Inheritance Tax annual exemption – In the 2025/26 tax year, you can give away up to £3,000 without it counting towards the value of your estate for IHT purposes. Any unused annual exemption can be carried forward for one tax year. So, you have until 5 April 2026 to use your exemption from 2024/25.

Read more: 7 key allowances you might want to use before the end of the 2025/26 tax year

5. Book a financial review with your Aspire financial planner

Your financial planner can help you spring clean your finances by offering a fresh perspective and ensuring that you’re making efficient use of any available tax allowances.

Using sophisticated cashflow modelling software, they can give you a clear picture of your current financial situation and assess whether you’re on track to achieve your long-term goals. This could provide the insight you need to breathe new life into your finances this spring and set you on the path for a fruitful 2026/27.

To find out more about how we can help, please get in touch.

Email helpme@aspirellp.co.uk or call 0117 9303510.

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.

Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate estate planning, cashflow planning, or tax planning.

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.

The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.