20 Things I Simply Stopped Buying To Save Money (2024)

We all go through periods in our lives where we need more money!

Whether you’re going through a job loss, career change, trying to survive college, or just looking to save more money, there are things you can do TODAY to find extra money in your budget!

Over the years, we’ve had our fair share of people ask us, how do you guys save so much money? What do you guys do differently?

The answer is simply..SIMPLE..

We stopped buying unnecessary things to save money!

We managed to save over six figures while I was in college and my husband was enlisted in the military and pursuing his bachelor’s degree.

Did I mention we had a baby or two and were living in one of the most expensive cities on one income?

That probably sounds like an impossible situation to be saving money in, but it wasn’t!

We were able to save a lot of money because we cut out things from our life that we didn’t NEED to have!

If you’re struggling to save money you’ve got to make some changes.

You can’t keep spending money the same way you always have and expect change. You have to make sacrificesifyouwantto see changes and save more money!

We’re going to show you 20 different ways to reduce your spending every month so you can start saving more money!

Keep reading for all the details!

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How to Stop Spending Money

Changing your spending habits isn’t going to be easy.

Let me tell you it’s downright hard work!

It’s amazing how fast money flies out of your pocket. Especially in this day and age where compulsive shopping is such a real thing.

When Amazon is offering a Free 30 Day Trial to their Prime Service where you can get everything shipped in 2 days, it’s super easy to go on there and spend a ton of money!

I wanted to share a few tricks on how I stopped buyingso I could focus on my goals of saving more money.

Here are my favorite ways to quit spending and save more money:

• Set goals for your money
• Make a budget and stick to it
• Always stick to your shopping list
• Stay away from the MALL
• Don’t compulsively shop – wait a week before buying something you think you need
• If you have food in your fridge, EAT IT – don’t eat out
• Pay with cash
• If you use a debit or check card, link it to an App like Acorns where you automatically save money with each purchase

The bottom line is, if you don’t like the financial situation you are in right now, you have to make a change now to get different results!

We’re going to help make that possible!

Need Help Saving Money

For those who continue to struggle with saving money, you need to take advantage of our FREE BUDGET BINDER. This simple tool is going to help you start saving money!

We began our journey to financial freedom in 2011 by paying off debt and starting to save money!

Within 5 years we had paid off our debt, and saved over six figures.

We were able to make this happen by budgeting our money and living below our means.

There are two things that really helped make that possible.

#1: We closely track everything we spend our money on. This helps us cut down on unnecessary spending month after month.

#2: We have the right tools to help us control every aspect of our finances. We use a customizable budgeting tool for everything! If you want to take tracking your finances to an app, check out Empower App and start automating your savings right now!

Check out our Customizable Budgeting Spreadsheets here

Are you looking for some different ways to save money?? Here are 50 crazy things you can do to save money.

One other thing to think about when you start saving money is where you’re going to keep that money. Here’s our favorite bank for saving money.

Their high interest rates, convenient online banking solutions and customer service are among our favorite. We love their Money Market Accounts as a place to keep our Emergency Fund.

Let’s get into the quick ways you can start spending less and saving more!

20 Things To Stop Buying To Save Money

1| Cut Your Cable Bill

How much do you spend on your cable bill every month? I bet it’s a lot!

We gave up cable years ago! We were paying close to $70 a month just for the basic channels, no extras. I have friends and family who pay much more than that!

According to US Today, the average TV subscriber pays about $85 per month and the average satellite provider tops $100 per month.

That is a lot of money!

For most, that’s over a full day’s work just to pay to have cable.

Now I’m not saying you need to cut your cable and give up watching TV completely..

There are so many other ways you can get your TV fix for cheap!

If you’re still looking to get your nightly “cable fix” or just looking for some background noise in your house an HDTV Antenna is a great choice.

All you have to do is pay the one-time small fee for the antenna and then you get to enjoy all of the HD cable channels for FREE.

How awesome is that!!

There are also other alternatives such as Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now, Sling TV, YOUTUBE TV, or Prime Video.

If you’re an Amazon Prime member there is no need to find an alternative. You can simply stream thousands of TV shows from Prime Video for FREE.

If you aren’t an Amazon Prime member and would like to give it a try, grab your free 30-day trial below!

Start Your 30-Day Free Trial HERE

With all your newfound free time you’ll have from limiting your tv time, start earning free gift cards by simply completing surveys!

Head over to Swagbucks, one of the most popular survey sites and start earning money by watching videos, taking surveys and so much more.

Swagbucks is one of my favorite ways to redeem gift cards to my favorite stores!

It’s completely free to get started and only takes a few seconds to sign up! Sign up today and score some free gift cards!

Right now if you sign up using our link you’ll get a FREE $10 welcome bonus!

2| No More Paper Towels

Paper towels are expensive and unlike toilet paper, they aren’t a necessity!

You can easily get by without them.

Paper towels are highly used throughout homes mainly because of their convenience factor. However, there are other affordable alternatives that can be used that are environmentally friendly.

If you haven’t considered switching over to cloth products, you should. These reusable kitchen cloths can replace all of your kitchen paper products.

Depending on how often you buy paper towels, this simple change can save you hundreds of dollars every year!

Quit buying paper towels and reach for a reusable cloth next time there is a spill.

Related post: 10 Household Items That Must Go (And What To Replace Them With)

3| Avoid Buying Bottled Water

I don’t know why we let convenience play a factor when choosing what we drink, but we do.

Let me tell you this convenience factor is costing you a lot of money!

According to Business Insider, “Americans spend over 12 billion dollars a year on bottled water.”

Are you contributing those numbers?

Next time your thirsty grab a reusable water bottle.

Spend $20 dollars on an awesome bottle (we LOVE our Hydro Flasks) you’ll bring everywhere and don’t waste money on another plastic water bottle.

4| I Stopped Buying Books And Magazines

I used to spend a ridiculous amount of money and timeat bookstores. Books are amazing BUT, the $20 price tag that comes along with each individual book isn’t.

Especially when the chance of you reading that book more then once, is VERY unlikely.

Instead of buying books and magazines head to your local library. They have more books and magazines then you could ever imagine.

You could also start your own, “little free library.” These are becoming very popular.

Set up a library stand in your front yard and you and your neighbors can share books and magazines all year long.

If you don’t have time to run to your local library, Amazon offers free books online.

Head over to Amazon and type in “free books” in the search bar. Pick one and download it for free to your computer, phone or tablet.

Also, if you haven’t heard of Audible, I highly recommend you giving them a try! If you’re always on the go, you will love audiobooks.

With two little kids of my own, finding time to sit down and read is nonexistent.

If your life situation sounds similar, you need to give audiobooks a go. When I jump in the car I turn my audiobook on. When I work out, I play my audiobooks instead of music.

Grab Your Free 30-day Trial With Audible

5| Stop Buying Plastic Bags

We all love convenience and it doesn’t get much more convenient than plastic sandwich bags.

If you’re buying plastic baggies, you NEED TO STOP!!

Not only are they terrible for the environment, it’s such a waste of money!!

Try purchasing these re-usable sandwich bags that you can use time and time again!

They’re easier on the environment and even better on your budget!

6| Hello $5 Meal Plan

After convincing you to no longer eat out. I couldn’t leave you hanging with no direction on how to meal plan.

Are you ready to save money and time??

For just $5 a month, $5 Meal Plan will send you delicious meal plans for every single one of your meals. It gets all the complexities of meal planning out of the way for you!

How awesome is that!

Best of all when you use our link below they’ll give youa 14-day trial for FREE!

If you don’t like the service, which I think you will. Cancel at any time, no questions asked!

Grab your FREE 14-day trial here

7| Skip Out On The Manicure And Pedicure

This might not pertain to everyonebut by giving yourself your own mani and pedi, you’re going to save a lot of money!

I’ve been giving myself my own mani and Pedi for years now. I’m quite convinced that I’m even better than some of the nail salons I’ve been to.

The best part about doing your own nails is when you chip a nail or it starts coming off you have fingernail polish to fix it.

Do yourself a favor and skip the nail salon this year.

8| Go Grocery Shopping Alone

Do you spend more on groceries when you take your spouse or kids shopping with you?

If so, leave them at home every time you shop!

My kids aren’t too bad, at most they’ll ask for cookies BUT my husband, he puts anything and everything in the cart.

He doesn’t stick to a list.

So yes, I leave him at home EVERY time I shop because I know if I don’t, I’ll spend an extra $20-$30 per shopping trip. =)

9|Have A No-Spend Weekend

Learn to be content with less because less is more!!

Have you noticed that you spend more money on the weekend then you probably spend all week!

If this has become a pattern in your home, try having a no-spend weekend once or twice a month. This is a great way to get your spending under control so you can start SAVING MONEY!

Here is an awesome list of FREE things you can do on a no-spend weekend!

Related articles:30 Things To Do On A No-Spend Weekend

10| Cleaning Supplies

Buying every type of cleaning solution to clean different areas of your home is a thing of the past!

I usually keep all of my cleaning solutions under the sink and BOYYY was that a mess. I had so many different things stashed under there I could never actually find what I was looking for.

That’s when I switched over to making my own cleaning supplies.

Mixingvinegar and wateris all you need to create an awesome all-purpose household cleaner!

If you like scent add your favorite essential oil!

Head over here to check out my favorite DIY recipe to make your own.

If you want to find other great DIY all-purpose household cleaning recipes jump on Pinterest!

Related article:10 Awesome Hacks That’ll Save You Thousands On Your Household Items

11| Your Gym Membership

Unless you can actually make it the gym 3 days a week, is your gym membership worth it??

Probably not! Even a membership at the YMCA costs more than $70.

If you aren’t using it, give it the boot!

Now I’m not saying you should quit working out altogether because we don’t want that either.

There are so many other alternatives to going to the gym!

Check out YouTube! You’ll find a large selection of different workouts you can do.

I’m a huge Beachbody fan! I’ve done their home workouts for over 9 years now and still do them to this day!

You can stream over 700 workout videos right to your phone or home computer for less than $100 bucks a year!

Grab your 14-day Free Trial

Pinterest is another great place to find good workouts. If you like Yoga, type in Yoga in the search bar. It will pull up hundreds of different workouts.

Are you a CrossFit person??

I love doing quick mini WODS (workout of the day) so I’ll search WODS and pick out a quick workout that looks fun. The best part is you can do a lot of them at home.

12| Quit Buying Name Brand Food

I can’t tell you how much you’ll save if you stop buying name brand foods, but I can tell you it’s a lot.

I constantly try to cut back on the amount of money I spend at the grocery store. Although it has been a never-ending struggle, I have learned a few tricks when trying to save money.

Stop buying name brand foods. Most generic brands taste the same!

They’re just cheaper!!

Take Target for example. I love doing my grocery shopping at Target (only because I don’t have many options where I live).

Target has their own generic brand called Market Pantry. Their brand foods taste exactly like the name brand stuff, it’s just a lot CHEAPER!

If you want to know how I save $10 on all my grocery shopping trips at Target,check it out here!

Related article:The Best Grocery Store Hacks That Will Help You Save Money On Food

13| No More Impulsive Shopping

Have you ever gone to the store to buy one thing and you walk out with a cart full of stuff?

Yep, it happens to all of us!

If I head to the mall and somehow get away empty-handed, chances are I’m going to leave thinking about something I saw in the mall.

Something that I now think I NEED, that I probably didn’t even know existed before I went to the mall.

Crazy how that works isn’t it!

To avoid falling victim to impulse buying, make sure you have a list each time you go shopping.

It doesn’t matter where you’re shopping, create a list and stick to it! This will help you curb the impulse spending.

14| I Stopped Feeding My Need For Caffeine

Okay not completely! I wouldn’t ever recommend giving up caffeine willingly!

But I do recommend staying away from coffee joints! For the price of your Starbucks, you could buy a whole bag of coffee that would last you 2 weeks.

Buy a simple coffee maker, anything will do the job, and start making coffee at home! Invest in a nice coffee cup that will keep your coffee hot all day long.

15| Stop Shopping Online

Why is it so easy to spend money online??

You click a few buttons on your phone and the next thing you know you’ve spent a few hundred dollars.

Electronics have made it so easy to spend money.

Do yourself a favor and eliminate spending online. If you need an item head to the store for it.

If you do shop online, make sure to use a money-saving app such as Rakuten when you shop!

16| Greeting Cards

This might sound a little ridiculous but we’ve stopped buying greeting cards and it’s saved us a lot of money!

Greeting cards are expensive and kind of a thing of the past, for the younger generations that is.

Let’s face it, most of the cards you send or receive probably end up in the garbage.

I love using Ecards!

If you haven’t used Ecards before you should give them a try. They are super easy to create, pretty much in the click of a button, and you can send one to a special someone in a matter of seconds.

Most importantly they are usually free!

If you aren’t a fan of Ecards, buy your cards from the Dollar Tree!!

At the Dollar Tree, you can pick up 2 Hallmark cards for $1. If there is a sale on cards you can pick up 4 for $1.

You really can’t beat their prices!

Lastly, if you are buying a gift for a baby, toddler or young child, write out what you’d write to them on the side of the bag or gift.

They don’t care about cards!

Related article:The Best Things To Buy At The Dollar Tree And What To Avoid

17| Makeup

If you’re a girl then more than likely you love makeup! We all go through our own little phases.

Me, I gave up wearing expensive makeup a long time ago.

I’m not saying you should completely let yourself go. But you should limit yourself on how much you spend.

I’m pretty sure all of my makeup could fit in a sandwich baggie and I’m okay with that!

I could never tell the difference between my $30 bottle of mascara and a $4 bottle of Lash Blast!

18| Stop Buying Movies

Do you still buy DVDs and then watch them pile up around your home? At one point so did we!

Nowadays, there are so many less expensive alternatives to buying a $20 dollar movie.

New movies hit Redbox around a week after they come out on DVD.

It only costs $1.69 to rent a movie for a day.

If you don’t have a smart tv, buyRoku or a Fire Stick for your TV. Both allow you to stream thousands of free movies.

You can also hook up to apps such as Netflix or Hulu.

Prime Video has a free trial you can sign up for here!

19| Home Decor Is Addicting

Us women love to buy home decor! We get so caught up in wanting our homes to look picture-perfect, you know, just like we see on Instagram.

Sadly, home decor isn’t cheap and it never will be. Let’s learn to be happy with what our homes look like right now!

In this stage of life, whatever “this stage” might be, if you’re trying to save money and stop buying, this is one habit that must go.

You can always pick it up again later in life when you’re happy with where you are financially.

20| Dryer Sheets Have To Go

I bought some awesome dryer balls roughly 2 years ago and I haven’t looked back!

Dryer sheets are full of chemicals and honestly, you don’t need them!

So grab some environmentally friendly dryer balls and never spend money on dryer sheets again!

What have you stopped buying to save money this year?

If you LOVED this post save it for later!!

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