How to do more with your money in 2026

January is the ideal month to review your finances and adopt a smart saving and investment strategy. Our four tips will help.

1. Set a budget

Any good financial plan starts with a monthly budget. This budget sets out all your income and expenditure: how much money comes into your account at the end of the month through your salary, pension or other income? How high are your fixed costs, such as rent, insurance policies, health insurance, public transport, electricity and food? What other costs do you have?

The Migros Bank budget sheet and budget apps enable you to draw up a budget in a few simple steps.

The budget shows you how much money you have left over to save and invest, and where unnecessary costs arise. This allows you to understand your savings potential and makes it easier to reach goals, such as the purchase of big-ticket items or retirement planning.

Important: for peace of mind, you should have a reserve of at least three months' wages in your savings account. This can then be used to pay for any unexpected repairs, visits to the doctor or tax bills.

2. Save at the start of the month

Over the long term, you should use about 20% of your monthly net disposable income to save and invest. However, even much smaller amounts can help you to build up your assets.

To avoid spending money on unnecessary things, you should invest a fixed amount separately at the start of each month, for example in a fund-based savings plan at a bank. A fixed amount is debited from your current account every month or quarter and invested in a fund.

The advantage of this is that funds are made up of equities in various companies as well as bonds and other investments. In some funds, the dividends and interest earned on the money put in are reinvested immediately, thus enabling you to earn money on these returns (compound interest effect).

Anyone who invests regular amounts should buy securities at both high and low prices. This results in an average purchase price that offsets market fluctuations.

3. Get rid of non-essentials

Many people pay for subscriptions, memberships or services that they rarely use. So check your contracts and ask yourself: do I really need all the streaming services I'm paying for? Is my mobile phone contract too expensive? Am I perhaps over-insured?

Cancelling unnecessary services and/or changing your mobile phone provider can save you a lot of money over the course of the year.

4. Shop wisely

If you compare prices, keep an eye out for special offers and plan your supplies cleverly, you can save money without making sacrifices. Own brands often offer the same quality as well-known branded products, but are often much cheaper.

Migros has also cut the price of more than 1000 especially popular everyday products to discount levels nationwide.

Barbara Russo is a customer advisor at Migros Bank and an investment expert.