Personal Finance

Give Yourself a 7-Day Financial Reset

8 January 2026

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NerdWallet has a weeklong challenge for you. We’re guiding readers through one practical money task a day for seven days to help start off the new year strong.

If you can finish the challenge, you’ll be well on your way to more financial wellness in 2026.

Day 1: Cancel subscriptions you don’t need

There are subscriptions for music streaming, audiobooks, retailers, food delivery, fitness and so on. How many services are you paying for? Are they all must-haves? Probably not.

Here’s how to pare down:

Make a list of your subscriptions. Check your credit card charges to find all of the services you have and how much they cost.
Decide which services aren’t worth keeping. Maybe Netflix isn’t so appealing now that you’ve finished “Stranger Things,” or your freezer’s overflowing with steaks that you can’t use up fast enough.
Sever those subscriptions. Log in to your online account for each membership and look for a cancel option. You can Google “cancel [service name]” to find instructions. You can also use the NerdWallet app’s subscription and bills feature to view and cancel subscriptions.

Once you’ve trimmed subscriptions, think about how you might put the money you’ll save to better use. Pay down some holiday debt. Pad your emergency fund. Start saving for something else. The choice is yours.

Day 2: Set up sinking funds

A sinking fund is just a dedicated savings account that you contribute to all year long for a specific purpose. That way, the money is there for you when you need it. It’s different from an emergency fund, which is designed to handle unexpected costs like emergency car or home repairs.

Popular sinking fund purposes include summer camp, holiday spending and vacations.

Here’s how to set up sinking funds for the year:

Review your upcoming expenses. It might help to look back over the previous year’s spending to remind yourself of any big costs — especially ones that only come around once or twice a year. Any expenses that exceeded your budget or caused you to turn to debt in order to finance them could be good candidates for a sinking fund.
Create a savings account — either within your existing financial institution or at a new one. The ideal spot for a sinking fund is a high-yield savings account that is easy to access and free of any minimums or fees.
Start your contributions. Some sinking fund users like to set up automatic monthly transfers so the accounts slowly build throughout the year until you need them. You can also manually transfer money into the accounts after you receive extra payments like a tax refund or bonus.

Day 3: Check your credit reports

Errors on credit reports can harm your credit score, and may be a sign of identity theft.

Even if all of the information in your reports is correct, reviewing it is still worthwhile. If you plan to apply for a new credit card or loan this year, it’s good to know what lenders will see.

Ready to check your reports? Let’s get started.

Pull free copies of your credit reports. You can use AnnualCreditReport.com to request free credit reports from the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — online. You’ll need to provide some personal information for verification.This option is the fastest, but you can also request reports by mail. NerdWallet offers a free weekly TransUnion credit report online.
Read the details carefully. Check the names, dates, addresses, accounts, balances and inquiries in each report. Review any negative information, such as collections or bankruptcies, too.
Dispute anything that looks off. Don’t see anything wrong? Great! But if you do, make sure to dispute the errors with the relevant bureau or bureaus.

Checking your credit reports won’t affect your credit scores, but it could help you protect them.

Day 4: Freeze your credit (or check your freeze status)

A credit freeze — also called a security freeze — blocks lenders from accessing your credit reports. That means if someone tries to open a new account in your name, the lender won’t be able to see your file, and the application will be denied.

Here’s how to freeze your credit — it’s free:

Gather your information: You’ll need your full name, date of birth, current address and Social Security number. Some credit bureaus may also ask for a copy of your ID (like a driver’s license or passport) or a recent utility bill or bank statement.
Contact each credit bureau: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each manage their own credit freeze process, so you’ll need to make the request with all three. The quickest way to request a freeze is online by creating an account with each bureau, but you can also call or mail in your freeze request.
Thaw only when needed: Your credit will stay frozen until you decide to lift the freeze — for example, if you’re applying for a mortgage, car loan or new credit card. You can temporarily unfreeze your credit for a set period (say, two weeks), and it will automatically refreeze afterward.

Not sure if your credit is already frozen? Log in to your accounts at each bureau and look for the security freeze section. You’ll see your status and can freeze or thaw as needed. You can also call to find out your freeze status.

Day 5: Review your beneficiaries

A beneficiary is simply the person (or people) you’ve picked to receive your assets when you die. You generally name a beneficiary on things like retirement accounts, life insurance policies, investment accounts and bank accounts.

Beneficiary choices override your will. That means even if you’ve updated your estate plan, your old beneficiary picks still stand.

How to update your selections:

List all of your accounts that have (or could have) beneficiaries. Note each individual retirement account, investment account, bank account, life insurance policy, 529 plan, annuity, and health savings account, flexible spending account and any other account that has a beneficiary election.
Log in to each account. Look for account settings and beneficiary selections. If you can’t find the right spot, give the company a call for direction.
Check your primary beneficiary. If it’s not the person you want (or no one is named), update information to reflect your current choice. You can have more than one primary beneficiary.
Add a contingent (secondary) beneficiary. Just as things can happen to you, things can happen to your primary beneficiary, so choose a backup (or backups).

Day 6: Boost your retirement savings

Let’s talk about goals. According to a recent NerdWallet survey, 19% of Americans plan to increase their retirement savings in 2026. Is that you?

“Whatever you can do, just start now,” says Fahmin Fardous, a certified financial planner based in Parsippany, New Jersey. “The perfect time doesn’t come, and if it does come, it comes a little too late.”

These questions can help you figure out where to start today:

Are you getting free money? Does your employer offer to match a percentage of your 401(k) contribution? “If they are giving you a match and you’re not contributing up to the match, you are essentially losing money,” she says.
Can you max out? The IRS increased 2026 401(k) contribution limits to $24,500, up $1,000 from 2025. “Let’s take advantage of that,” Fardous says. Consider upping your contribution to the max, she says. If you want to ease in, you can do an automatic increase of 1% every year, she says. And it’s not like open enrollment. You can revisit and increase your contribution amount throughout the year.
Do you have a Roth IRA? If you’re a HENRY, and you have a 401(k) at work, your income might be too high for you to get a tax deduction for contributing to a traditional IRA, Fardous says. Think about opening a Roth IRA and contributing for tax-free growth, she says. Single tax filers with a modified adjusted gross income of less than $153,000 can make a full Roth IRA contribution in 2026. (If you’re married filing jointly, your MAGI must be less than $242,000 to make a full contribution.) You can contribute $7,500 in 2026 if you’re younger than 50. If you’re 50 or older, you can contribute $8,600.
What else can you do? If you make too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, you can think about contributing to a backdoor Roth IRA, Fardous says. If you’ve done all of this and want to boost your retirement savings even more, you can see if your employer offers an after-tax 401(k) option. You can also open a brokerage account if you want to invest further. The sooner you bump up your retirement contributions, the more time you have for compound interest to work its magic, she says.

Day 7: Accelerate debt payoff

The number of consumers carrying a credit card balance hit 174.8 million in the third quarter of 2025, according to a report from credit bureau TransUnion. Are you one of them? Like with exercise, the best way to make progress on debt is to start moving.

Pick up the pace and pay less interest over time. Here’s how to do it:

Check your emergency fund: If you don’t have an emergency fund, you may need to build up some savings first. That can mean paying minimums on debt until you have at least a starter fund of $500 to $1,000. Even a small amount can save you from going deeper into debt in the event of an unforeseen expense.
Pay more than the minimums: If your emergency fund is set, increase the amount you put toward your loans to pay them off faster. You can make it manageable by paying more on one debt at a time. Keep up with the minimums on the rest.
Get a quick win to build steam: Try the debt snowball method if you find small victories motivating. Make a list of all your debts from the smallest balance to largest. Tackle the loan with the smallest balance first, then move to the next.
Focus on high-interest loans to save more: To save more money in the long run, try the debt avalanche method. List out your debts from highest interest rate to lowest and pay extra on the most expensive loan first. For example, you’d put extra money on a credit card with an exorbitant APR over a buy now, pay later plan that doesn’t charge interest.
Consider debt consolidation: A 0% interest balance transfer credit card is one way to consolidate the debt if you have a credit score of 690 or above. Ideally, you’ll pay off the total balance during the promotional period to cut down on interest and simplify your life.