--- title: There's Still Time to Financially 'Lock in' Before 2026. Here's How description: Use the Great Lock-In of 2025 as an opportunity to check in on your savings balances, spending habits, debt levels and investments. authors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-10-29T17:25:56.000Z' modified: '2025-10-29T17:25:56.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - dollar scholar - News word_count: 621 canonical: https://money.com/great-lock-in-financial/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Man doing yoga on a mat made of money](https://img.money.com/2025/10/News-Great-Lock-In.jpg) Across the country, young adults are staying in, exercising and drinking water as part of [the Great Lock-In of 2025](https://www.tiktok.com/discover/the-great-lock-in), a viral self-improvement sprint through the end of the year. The idea is to block out distractions and hyper-focus on healthy habits before 2026 begins. But if you're participating, don't forget to add a financial element. "Starting small and creating change isn't easy, but there's still plenty of time to work with the last few months of the year," says Felicia Wong, founder of Aventurine Planning. "Everyone has to start somewhere." The Great Lock-In doesn't have to be a complete overhaul of everything you know and love. You can simply use it as an opportunity to check in on your financial situation — your savings balances, spending habits, debt levels, investments — and reset as needed. ## Regain financial stability with the help of Freedom Debt Relief ### Freedom can start you on the path to resolve your debt, especially if you owe over $20,000. Why wait? Select your state to get started today! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/l67257dab4e3?ap_referrer=%2Fgreat-lock-in-financial%2F) Although self-improvement can be hard, participating in a trend like this can be a way to hack your attitude toward otherwise-undesirable tasks, says Timothy Klecker, goals coach at U.S. Bank. Take the dreaded task of [budgeting](https://money.com/how-much-you-should-save-every-paycheck/), for instance. "If you think, 'Well, I have to adopt a budget, and I'm going to have to do it forever,' you're probably not going to want to do it. Sounds awful, right?" Klecker says. But if you approach it with a mindset of "I'm going to master this within a specific timeframe, and I'm going to kick its butt," budgeting suddenly feels a lot more achievable. Breaking larger financial goals down into smaller steps can help you stay motivated. Wong says if you want to take a vacation next summer, maybe aim to set aside a specific amount of money for that trip by the end of each month. If you want to cut down on everyday expenses, consider declaring a deadline to [negotiate your internet bill](https://money.com/how-to-negotiate-bills-in-recession/). "Set goals and habits around what is fulfilling and sustainable. Financial habits are about being consistent over the long term," says Wong, who is also a certified financial planner. Michelle Riiska, senior financial planning product and research consultant for eMoney Advisor, suggests starting with something like your [emergency fund](https://money.com/dollar-scholar-emergency-fund-account/). Although the end goal is to save three to six months of essential expenses, you can build up to that by putting away a few thousand dollars before January to reduce your chances of needing to take on extra debt in a crisis. You may even be able to combine some of your lifestyle and financial upgrades. While you're trying to eat healthier, for instance, you could set a cap on your Uber Eats spending. While you're trying to cut back on mindless shopping, you could delete the Amazon app from your phone. You get the idea. Klecker adds that even just testing out a behavior can pay dividends — as long as you're crystal-clear on the outcome you're ultimately hoping for. Going cold turkey for a few weeks only to return to old habits the second the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve won't result in long-term change. For these adjustments to stick, your goals need to stretch beyond the end of a lighthearted TikTok challenge. With discipline, Klecker says, you'll come out on the other side of the Great Lock-In having seen how valuable (and painless) the experience was. You'll also have proven to yourself that you can do it. "It's the perfect framework to commit your time, your energy and your focus toward something, and then let the evidence show it was worth your time, energy and focus by the results," he adds. ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Fgreat-lock-in-financial%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/great-lock-in-financial/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's Still Time to Financially 'Lock in' Before 2026. 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