The best financial goals for April to June are the ones tied to the new UK tax year, which starts on 6 April. That makes it the natural quarter to reset your budget for any pay or bill changes, check your tax code, start using your fresh ISA allowance, review pension contributions and set two or three savings targets you can hit within 90 days.
This page turns that into a month-by-month checklist plus a simple 90-day goal method. If you are reading it at another time of year, the same approach works for any quarter: start from today and plan the next 13 weeks. For the bigger picture, see how to set financial goals and our annual financial review checklist.
Why April to June is a good quarter for money goals
In calendar terms April to June is the second quarter, but for UK personal finance it is the first quarter of the tax year. A lot changes at once: tax-free allowances reset on 6 April, the National Minimum Wage and many benefits change in April, and plenty of bills (council tax, water, mobile and broadband) are repriced around the same time. Planning now means your budget reflects the year you are actually living in, not last year's numbers.
It is also far enough from the January Self Assessment deadline and Christmas that you can make progress without pressure. Three months is long enough to see results and short enough to stay motivated.
Set three goals using the 90-day method
Pick no more than three goals for the quarter: one to protect you, one to move you forward and one habit. Make each specific, give it a weekly amount and decide where the money will go. For example:
| Goal | 13-week target | Per week |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency fund top-up | £650 | £50 |
| Summer holiday pot | £390 | £30 |
| Clear a store card | £520 | £40 |
Write the goals down with a finish date (the last day of June), automate the transfers for the day after payday, and do a five-minute check every Sunday. Our savings goal calculator works out the weekly or monthly figure for any target and date. If you like a visual streak, SYM tells you how much to put aside each day and logs it with one tap.
April: reset the basics
- Check your first payslip of the tax year. Most people with one job and no other income have the tax code 1257L, reflecting the £12,570 Personal Allowance. An emergency code (with W1, M1 or X) or a code that looks wrong is worth querying with HMRC through your Personal Tax Account.
- Update your budget. Put in your new take-home pay, any pay rise and the new prices for council tax, water, phone and broadband. The take-home pay calculator shows what a pay rise means after tax and National Insurance.
- Decide your ISA plan. You have a new £20,000 ISA allowance for the tax year. Setting up a regular monthly payment from April spreads it across the year instead of rushing before 5 April. The ISA allowance tracker keeps count across accounts.
- Review pension contributions. If you got a pay rise, consider sending part of it to your pension before you get used to spending it.
May: paperwork and allowances
- Get your P60. Employers must give you a P60 for the last tax year by 31 May. Check the pay and tax figures against your final payslip and keep it safe; you will need it for mortgage applications and any tax refund claim.
- File your Self Assessment early if you need to. You can file for the previous tax year from 6 April. Filing in May or June does not mean paying early (payment is still due by 31 January), but it tells you what you owe and gives you months to save for it.
- Check allowances you might be missing. Marriage Allowance lets a non-taxpayer transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to a basic rate partner, worth up to £252 a year, and can be backdated four years. If you claim Child Benefit and one of you earns over £60,000, check whether the High Income Child Benefit Charge applies.
- Look at your savings rate. If your easy access account has dropped behind, compare it with what is available now using our guide to high interest savings accounts.
June: mid-year review and summer planning
- Score your three goals. Did you hit each weekly amount? If not, was the target too high or did the system fail (wrong transfer date, no reminder)? Fix the system before setting next quarter's goals.
- Plan for summer costs. School holidays, childcare, trips and birthdays often land in July and August. A small sinking fund now stops them landing on a credit card.
- Watch for July bill changes. Ofgem sets the energy price cap every three months, and the July level is announced in late May. Use that moment to check whether a fixed tariff is worth it.
- Prepare for 31 July if you are self-employed. If you make payments on account, the second one for the previous tax year is due by 31 July.
Key dates in the first half of the tax year
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 6 April | New tax year: allowances reset, new ISA allowance |
| 31 May | Deadline for employers to issue your P60 |
| Late May | Ofgem announces the July to September price cap |
| 31 July | Second Self Assessment payment on account due |
| 5 October | Deadline to register for Self Assessment for the previous tax year |
One date to plan for now: from 6 April 2027, under-65s will only be able to put £12,000 a year into Cash ISAs, within the same £20,000 overall ISA limit. If you save mainly in cash, the 2026/27 tax year is the last one in which you can put the full £20,000 into a Cash ISA.
Carry it into the next quarter
At the end of June, spend half an hour on a quick review: total saved, debt cleared, what worked and what did not. Then set three new goals for July to September using the same template. Four short quarters a year are easier to stick to than one big New Year resolution, and each review makes the next plan more realistic.
If you want help choosing the goals themselves, our guides to SMART financial goals and financial goals by age are a good next step.
Frequently asked questions
When does the UK tax year start and end?
What financial goals should I set at the start of the tax year?
When should I get my P60?
Is it better to set quarterly or yearly money goals?
Can I file my tax return in April?
- financial-goals
- tax-year
- planning
- money-targets