The 33-year-old civil servant from Falkirk isn't overly concerned about her bills, although, with a trip to Australia and New Zealand planned later this year, reducing her outgoings would certainly help.
"I really need to sort out my savings, or rather, lack thereof!" she says. "At the moment, I tend to save £100 a month in an ISA, but then I dip into that cash later in the month. I've managed to save around £1,000 in total so far."
Financial advisers tend to recommend having at least three months' salary saved in case of an emergency, so Kathryn is sensible to try to boost the amount she saves each month.
Issues with her ISA
There are two issues with Kathryn's ISA. One is that, by withdrawing money from her savings regularly, she's using up her ISA allowance which is preventing her from building up a decent tax-free nest egg.
The other is that her ISA is more than six-years old. She's not sure what rate it's paying but after all that time it is likely to be much lower than she thinks.
Kevin Mountford, moneysupermarket.com's head of banking, explained: "After six years, the chances that an ISA is paying a decent rate are very low indeed.
"Many banks and building societies use a 12-month bonus to boost a rate, or they only offer a competitive variable deal for the first year or so.
"After that, it sinks to their standard rate and that can be as low as 0.5%, sometimes even less. That's far from enough to beat inflation and make some real returns."
Savings options for Kathryn
It makes absolute sense for Kathryn to continue saving into an ISA, so that the returns on the money are tax free for as long as she keeps it in the account.
If Kathryn wants to build some savings discipline, she may want to consider an ISA regular saver account.
These require you to save a small amount into an account each month, but most will not allow withdrawals for the first year, or they restrict the number of withdrawals the accountholder can make. That means Kathryn would have to be certain she could do without the cash.
However, they are a great way to build a regular habit of putting money away and to build some savings discipline.
The best news is that regular savings accounts tend to pay a higher rate than others, so Kathryn would almost certainly be able to beat the returns she's currently making on her ISA.
For example, top of the tables is Monmouthshire Building Society's ISA Saver, paying a variable rate that's currently 2.50%. Kathryn would need to pay in between £20 and £425 a month in order to keep the account open.
The downside is that, if she wanted to save her full cash ISA allowance of £5,100, she'd need to save the full £425 every month; she couldn't pay in less one month and then catch up at a later date.
Another option would be Britannia's Easy Monthly Saver Cash ISA, paying a variable rate that currently 2.10%. Again, she'd need to pay in between £20 and £425 every month.
Neither of these deals would allow Kathryn to transfer her existing ISA savings across, so she'd need another ISA in order to earn a better rate on her existing £1,000.
Easy access ISAs
Here's another option for Kathryn. If she is confident she can stay in control of her savings and not dip into them each month, she could continue to pay the money into an easy access ISA, but find one that pays a better rate of interest. She could then transfer her existing £1,000 ISA savings into this account.
Not all easy access ISAs accept transfers in from previous years but the e-ISA Issue 2 from Principality Building Society does and pays an annual variable rate of 2.80%.
The next best rate is 2.70%, available from Cheltenham & Gloucester, Birmingham Midshires and the AA (although the AA's Internet Access ISA does not accept transfers).
And now for the cuts in her bills...
To help kick start her savings, we at moneysupermarket.com took a look at how she can cut her monthly outgoings.
By simply looking at four of her household bills, we were able to save her £355 - which can all go to help boost her nest egg.
Kathryn is currently paying her gas and electricity by monthly direct debit, meaning she can qualify for the cheapest rates going. As she lives on her own, she's paying around £600 a year on Scottish Power's standard tariff, but if she moved to npower's Sign Online 19 deal, she'd pay just £411.28.
That's a potential annual saving of £188.72.
Kathryn's currently paying Swiftcover £330 a year for her comprehensive car insurance, including breakdown cover.
She drives approximately 10,000 miles a year and had one incident where she was at fault last year, which cost around £500 to put right.
Despite rising car insurance bills, a search on moneysupermarket.com shows that she could pay echoice just £283.07 a year and still keep her breakdown cover. That's a saving of £46.93.
Her home insurance premiums on her mid-terrace two-bedroomed house aren't bad, at just £145 for the year with Esure.
However, she could be paying less as Swinton quoted her just £85.36 a year - a saving of £59.64.
Kathryn uses Sky for her broadband and TV package, but she uses BT for her line rental and calls. This all comes to £41 a month.
But many people can save money by 'bundling' these services, which means taking them all from one provider, and Kathryn is no exception. If she used Sky for her phone line too, she'd pay just £36 a month, saving a total of £60 across the year.
Would you like the opportunity to see if we can make you any savings? If so, then email makeover@moneysupermarket.com.
Please note: Any rates or deals mentioned in this article were available at the time of writing. Click on a highlighted product and apply direct.
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