I don’t know about you, but this time of year I am always tempted to take stock of things before the new year truly gets under way.

During the Christmas and New Year break, for example, a friend told me about a rude awakening they had received when they had gone in to their local bank to add a new account.

The assistant had called up their account and commented on how many direct debits and standing orders they had attached to the account. When they got home they looked again and discovered there were dozens of standing payments, many of which they no longer wanted or needed.

It’s frightening how many payments we continue to make without thinking about them. The friend discovered she was paying insurance for an appliance she had replaced two years earlier and also paying for things that had ‘auto renewed’ but that she didn’t need any more. She also took the opportunity to look at an insurance policy that was coming up for renewal and saved herself a few pounds a month by switching.

We work hard for our money but it’s easy to let things tick over without ever stopping to look at just exactly what we spend it on. All those direct debits that go out each month – what are they paying for?

At this time of year I offer a free financial health check to ask the questions you need to ask.

Those insurance policies you took out years ago – are they still relevant today? Have your circumstances changed? Are you paying a lot for your home and contents insurance when cheaper cover is available? Have you even got the right insurance for your home, especially if you have added lots of gadgets in recent years?

And what about insurance to protect you if you are ill or suddenly become unemployed? The insurance we had in our twenties (if we had any!) is probably not right for what we need now when we might have dependents who rely upon us to keep a roof over their heads.

Then there’s your mortgage. When did you last have a good look at that? Are you still getting the best rate? Have you accidentally let it slip on to the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) after a special offer ended? A staggering one in six homeowners are sitting on their lender’s SVR when they could be saving a small fortune by switching to a cheaper mortgage deal.

Maybe you’ve decided 2018 is the year you want to get on the property ladder – now is the perfect time to have a look at what mortgage deals there are, before they go up again.

I’m making appointments now for a free January finance health check so give me a call on 01723 384558 or 07767 692 653 or email me at mgrayshan@googlemail.com to book a slot.