Start Spending Less Money with These 10 Great Tips!

Do you know what stinks? Being too strapped for cash to go to the movies or grab a bite to eat.

I haven’t experienced that since my teen years because I learned the tricks to spending less money on every day things.

When you find easy ways for spending less money a little bit at a time you will simplify your finances and start saving money instead of bleeding it.

Do you need to simplify your budget to make your life less stressful? Has money been tight for too long? Do you want to know how to break the vicious cycle of living paycheck to paycheck and never having enough money?

Learn how to save money live better, and see big financial gains with these 10 easy ways to spending less money every day!

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Start Spending Less Money by Cooking at Home

Cooking at home is one of the really easy ways to start spending less money in your daily life.

Getting used to cooking most of your meals will mean that you need to eat out less! And eating out can really add up!

Stop picking up lunch and dinner. Cut back on the coffee and treats!

If you buy a $10 meal (which is a cheap meal) just 5 times a week that will cost you $200 a month and $2,600 a year. Multiply that by the number of people in your family who are eating out!

Imagine what you could do with that money! Spending less money on junk food could add up to enough money to something really fun.

Don’t Know How to Cook?

However, if you are trying to eat out less that means you are going to have to start cooking at home and packing lunches.

Don’t know how to cook? Don’t worry!

We live in the glorious age of Pinterest! Pinterest is the reason I love to cook. There are so many great recipes that you may just find out you love cooking! Start meal planning with easy one dish meals and work your way up.

I enjoy traveling the world in my kitchen!  You might find you love it too, if you give it a chance.

Not Enough Time?

You might think you don’t have enough time to cook from home but if you consider the time it takes to drive to and from a restaurant as well as the time waiting in line, you might be surprised that cooking doesn’t really take that much more time!

There are tons of recipes on Pinterest that can be made in 30 minutes or less. In fact, most of the dishes I make are like that!

Why does cooking mean spending less money?

Cooking at home is one of the most effective money-saving tips because what you would pay for a meal for one person will often buy the ingredients for that same meal for your entire family! 

Restaurants charge at least 200% what the food costs because of convenience and atmosphere. Most charge more than that!

Another side benefit of cooking from home is that it is easier to make your food healthy. That saves money on health costs in the long run!

Simplify Your Budget When You Use Grocery Pick-up

Another one of my favorite ways of spending less money is to use grocery pickup services.

Instead of going into the grocery store and perusing the selection, I like to use Walmart Grocery Pickup. Almost every store has a pickup option these days. It saves me so much time, energy, and money!

Instead of perusing the shelves and picking up a lot of things you don’t really need you can make a meal plan and create a thorough grocery list of things you need to make your meals for the week.

With a little meal planning, you will only need to buy groceries once a week or even every other week. This will end up saving you money you didn’t know you were spending on all those random runs to the grocery store.

Also, when you shop online you can see exactly what your cart cost is adding up to and decide what to get rid of if the price is getting too high. Compare that to the times you have been surprised by the cost at the checkout counter in the store. 

Picking up your groceries is one of my favorite ways to save money every day because it saves me time too! It is also a great way to simplify your budget because it’s a lot easier to keep track of!

#3 Reevaluate Your Subscriptions

Small costs add up to big costs and there are so many entertainment subscriptions now that it can really add up!

You may have signed up for a subscription to watch just one show or one movie. You may forget about that subscription but it is still costing you around $7-10 a month. That adds up to $84-120 a year for EACH subscription.

When you have even 3 or 4 subscriptions that can add up to a lot of money that could be used to pay bills and purchase things you need. 

I’m not saying you shouldn’t have some streaming subscriptions but you can really simplify your budget if you take time to reevaluate what you are paying for and cancel the ones you don’t use a lot!

When you are spending less money by looking at small things like this you will be surprised at the difference it makes!

Getting rid of services you don’t use is a super-easy way to save money every day.

#4 Exercise at Home

I used to love going to the gym! It felt like it was worth the cost to have all that equipment at my disposal without having it clutter up my home. I felt that it was worth the cost because of the benefit for my health.

But then I found a better way to get a great workout without a ton of equipment. And guess what? I am spending less money too!

My husband and I got a 1-year membership to Beachbody on Demand for $97! We used to spend about $70 a month for both our gym memberships so Beachbody On Demand saved us about $743 this year!

That means quitting the gym can be a pretty big way to simplify your finances!

The workouts are great and we are seeing real results! To learn more about that read this article about exercising at home. 

There is a lot of other ways to exercise for free too!

Walking every day is one of the best things you can do for your health. We also enjoy bike riding and kayaking which costs nothing once you have the equipment!

#5 No Spend Days! 

We spend money all the time. Sometimes we don’t even notice how much we are spending on little things.

One of the best money-saving tips I have found is to try to have at least 10 no spend days a month.

That means that on those days you buy nothing. Don’t buy groceries, food, coffee, or an Amazon order!  Live off of what you have in your home.

When I started doing this, I couldn’t believe how hard it was. I thought I was doing fine and then I remembered I had bought a coffee in the morning. 

Striving for 10 no spend days a month helped me become more conscious of my spending. It got me in the habit of spending less money on random junk.

Talk with your family about this. Try to get everyone in your family to work for 10 no spend days a month and you will be surprised how much money you can save by being more aware of what you spend. 

Another related challenge you could try is to stop buying clothes or shoes or whatever your weakness is for a whole year. Probably you do not need anything new for a while. Give it a try! 

Comment below about what you are going to stop buying! I would love to hear from you!

#6 Shop Intentionally 

We live in a culture of consumerism. That means people are constantly trying to convince us that we need more and more and more stuff.Sometimes we shop because we are bored or even sad.

If you are looking to start spending less money you need to change the way you look at shopping.

Shopping should never be a hobby. In fact, shopping as a hobby is a big reason so many of us have trouble saving money and are living paycheck to paycheck.

If you want to simplify your budget here is a easy step to take: Don’t go to the mall for something to do. Don’t pull up the Amazon app cause you’re bored. Try to shop only when you find you actually need something and then research it to find the best quality and price. 

When you shop intentionally you will find that you have less clutter in your home, more enjoyment from the purchases you do make, and most of all, you will save money!

#7 Use Credit Like Cash to Simplify Your Budget

It is not a bad idea to have a credit card. They can help you build good credit and you can benefit from the many incentives like points and cashback.

What is a bad idea is to use your credit card as a key to anything you want.

Instead, you should use your credit card as if it were cash.

When you run out of cash you can’t buy anything else. You need to know how much you can spend each month on your credit card based on how much money you actually make.

When you use your credit card like cash you can completely pay off your credit card each month and never spend money on interest. Spending less money on interest means you are probably going to be putting some of that money in savings!

If you ware looking for easy ways to save money every day the best way is to spend it more carefully, especially with your credit cards.

#8 Be Content

If you are trying to get used to spending less money one of the best tips I can give you is to not leave the house.

There are literally days when I had nothing to do and I thought I should go somewhere but I realized that would just lead to spending money.

It is important to know the difference between wanting something new and needing something new. It can be very tempting to get the latest phone or a shiny new car but it can also be very expensive.

When you are making any purchase, especially big ones, you need to ask yourself if you really need it.

I always ask myself, “If I buy this, will I be willing to let go of the one (phone, car, tablet, shirt, shoes, coat,etc) like it that I already have?” If you are not willing to get rid of the older version yet you do not need the newer one.

Sometimes you really do need something. Do you need to buy the latest and greatest version of it? A lot of money can be saved by scaling down to a more affordable but still quality version of the item that you are looking for.

For example, I always buy the iPhone version that is at least one generation behind the current one.

I have never bought a new car but I always buy a good car.

When I bought my Ipad I got it from the refurbished part of the Apple website.

I don’t buy the fancy brand name shoes unless they are in Ross for a great price! 

How can you cultivate contentment and start spending less money. Appreciate what you have and scale back on the stuff you need. Bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes the older iPhone is good enough.

#9 Avoid Payments or Keep Them Low

Many people live life based on how many payments they can afford each month.  This makes life very stressful. You can never get ahead and you are in big trouble when unexpected expenses come up.

Instead, try to avoid having payments if at all possible. Save money and try to buy things you need with the money you actually have.

If you need to make a big purchase and you need to have a payment consider choosing a less expensive option to keep the payments as low as possible.

Work hard to pay off your payments quickly and try not to get more unless you have to.

Think about it this way. If you have a payment then your aren’t saving that money each month. Once a payment is gone, you could hypothetically save that much money each month instead.

Thinking about your money this way will help you stay motivated to save money instead of buying the shiny thing. Spending less money means less debt and a lot less stress in the long run!

#10 Downsize to Simplify Your Finances

If money is a constant stress it is time to look at what you can get rid of or reduce.

Are you making any payments or paying for insurance on recreational vehicles or cars you aren’t using regularly? Could you let go of these things for a while?  

For example, my parents went down to one car during the pandemic to save a substantial amount of money every month by not paying the payment and insurance on that car.

Could you live in a smaller place? Smaller homes are not only cheaper to purchase or rent but also cheaper to heat, cool, insure, and otherwise maintain.

Maybe you can’t make any big changes like that.

But instead you can downsize your possessions by selling some on Facebook marketplace. We made over $1500 selling stuff we didn’t need anymore.

Look for small changes you can make so that you have less financial burden in your life.

Maybe you can simplify your budget if you downsize your “needs” like the bimonthly manicure and the super chic haircut and highlights.

Maybe you can go to the movies less or use less gas.

These small changes can add up. There are a lot of simple ways to save money every day and simplify your finances.

It’s Worth It to Learn How to Live on Less Money!

Is it worth it to make these changes in your life to start spending less money? Absolutely!

When you find a lot of easy ways to save money every day you will find these small changes making a big impact.

When you simplify your finances you will stop living paycheck to paycheck and start building up your savings account instead.

You will be able to spend that money on things that are way better than your daily coffee, like an awesome vacation or your first home!

Your house won’t be full of stuff you don’t need and your time won’t be wasted taking care of too much stuff.

Most of all simplifying your finances and saving money will relieve stress so you can have a happy simple life and more precious time with the ones you love!

How do you save money in every day life? What has made the biggest difference for you? Please share in the comments below!

Spending Less Money is Easier With Minimalism!

There is really no reason not to start enjoying simple living! Now is the time to try the minimalist lifestyle! Learn why minimalism is good for your mental health and relationships, how it can transform your finances, so you can start having more energy and time for the things that matter!

But what if simplifying your life sounds like an overwhelming task?

If you want to simplify your life but the big bad word MINIMALISM scares you let me help! I wrote Doable Simplicity (Minimalism For Normal People) to help you get the inspiration you need to simplify your life and then take solid steps that make simple living doable for you!