Cut your spending with these personal finance tips

Whether you’re saving for a milestone, paying off debt, or just trying to curb a shopping habit that’s getting out of hand, there’s no better time to take action on your financial goals than the present. Buying fewer things isn’t just beneficial for your financial security, it can also be better for your mental and physical health and lessen your environmental impact. And the good news is, it has never been easier to curb your spending.




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Make a budget

If you’ve decided to get serious about your financial goals, whether it’s paying down debt or saving for your first home or a wedding, the best way to start is to get a clear picture of your day-to-day finances by drawing up a budget. First, calculate your income and expenses, and from there, you should be able to figure out how much money you can spend and how much you need to save to reach your goal.




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Track your spending

Do you find yourself occasionally looking at your bank balance, mystified at where you’ve spent your money and how quickly it’s all gone? Tracking your purchases will help you identify all the black holes in your financial life and where you could save money, and it has never been easier. You may choose to download an expense tracker app or simply write each purchase down in a small notebook. By tracking each purchase you make over a period of time, you’ll have a clearer idea of where your money’s going, what kind of purchases you could be cutting out, and you may even prevent yourself from spending in the moment when you’re aware you’ll need to track it down.




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Track your savings

There’s a lot of shame tied up in money and personal spending, which can put people off of going deep in their personal finance journey. But there’s a lot to be celebrated once you’re finally on that journey. Savings opportunities are everywhere and they can be as small as piggy-banking the change in your wallet left at the end of every day, or as large as directly deposit any extra cheques or raises you get from your job into your savings account. By being aware of and celebrating these small savings opportunities, you’ll be bolstering your own motivation to keep going.




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Go cash-only

While cash has been slowly falling out of favour of consumers since the introduction of credit and debit cards, using physical money has major savings benefits. By switching to cash, you can create an obvious limit to how much you can spend on any given day (after all, you can’t spend money you don’t have). Psychologically, people are more likely to overspend when they use credit rather than cash, and they purchase more unhealthy items. And some small businesses, to cut down on credit and debit fees, would rather lower the price of a product for someone paying in cash – a win-win for everyone!




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Quit unhealthy habits while you save

A lot of undesirable or unhealthy habits can also be costly. Quitting habits like smoking or drinking excessively, or making a conscious effort towards a leaner diet by preparing your own meals at home rather than dining out will not only help you become a healthier person but it will also come with the added benefit of more savings in the bank account. By folding your commitment into living a healthier lifestyle into your broader financial goals, you can double your motivation and reap double the benefits.




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Do an audit of your subscriptions

There’s a subscription for everything, from media streaming services and newspaper subscriptions, to regular deliveries of toothbrush heads and vitamins, and this all means that there’s a lot more automatic billing in our lives. One place to start cutting down on spending is by doing an audit of your subscriptions. Is there a software program you no longer use but are still paying for, or a streaming service you’ve allowed to languish in the wake of other, better streaming services? Are you being billed monthly for a service you have no recollection of signing up for, or annually for a service you thought you’d cancelled years ago? Doing a full audit of your bank statements and cancelling one or two subscriptions will lead to months of savings.




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Save where you spend

If you find yourself going to the same grocery store every week, or stopping for gas at the same gas station, or repurchasing the same boutique products every few months, a loyalty program will help you maximize your purchase power while also dissuading you from going to other shops and potentially picking up new products you otherwise wouldn’t get. The same principal extends to recreational hobbies as well: If you keep buying drop-in passes for the same yoga studio, or if you go to a museum every time they have a new exhibition, consider becoming a member. It’ll allow you to save money while also keeping you happy and healthy.




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Sleep on it

Most of the decisions we make in our lives can benefit with some amount of time for deliberation, especially when it comes to purchases both big and small. One-click purchasing and tap-enabled credit cards have made it easier than ever to indulge in impulse shopping, and that’s how we end up with more things than we need. By setting a buffer time of 24 hours or, ideally, 72 hours, we can think reasonably about whether or not we truly need or want the item that catches our attention in the moment and avoid unwanted purchases.




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Shop around first

There’s no better feeling in the world than waiting to purchase a desired item and then finding it on sale for a lower price elsewhere or at a different time. Shopping around gives you buffer time to decide whether you want an item, plus the satisfaction afterwards in knowing you bought it at the best possible price. From comparing different sites to waiting for flash sales, there are so many ways to save on the item you want to buy. After all, life’s too short to pay full price.




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Find an app that works for you

There’s an entire industry of digital apps to make it easier for the average consumer save money. There are budget trackers, robo-advisors, cashback apps, apps to track your bill deadlines, deal-trackers, expense reporting trackers, and more. Depending on how much you value your privacy, you can go relatively low tech and do a simple mobile tracking app where you input your information yourself, or hook up these apps to all your banking accounts for more convenience. By experimenting with different apps, you may just find the one that’ll help you hit your financial goal.




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Take some time to plan

If you tend to spend money on the fly, consider taking some time to plan out your week so you can avoid having to buy unnecessary items. Meals and coffees out are common culprits, and the easiest to remedy with a bit of meal prepping, but can also extend to scheduling travel routes to cut down on gas consumption, and planning shopping trips to avoid going to the store more than you need to.




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Stop online shopping

Online shopping and the rise of e-commerce has permanently changed consumer habits. Not too long ago, people had to go to an actual brick and mortar shop to get all their consumer goods, but now you can order everything from mealkits to appliances. One way to curb your impulsive spending is simple: Make sure the item you want is worth going out to the store for. That way, you won’t be tempted to “wine and Prime”, or load up a shopping cart with items you don’t need to hit the free shipping threshold, and instead, focus on buying things that are actually worth leaving the house for.




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Find free hobbies

So often in our lives, money is the most easily spent when it’s in the sole pursuit of passing time by yourself or with friends: How often do plans for a day spent walking in the neighbourhood lead to a sit-down coffee and a pastry, or a casual afternoon drink, or a spontaneous visit to a museum or a film, or all three? There are plenty of ways to pass the time in an enjoyable way that don’t cost a penny – the key is to always keep them top of mind. Instead, if you have a full day off, look for some free activities, like a community yoga class or a free workshop. And if you’re by yourself, there’s no better way to pass the time than cozying up with a book from the library or starting a new crafting project with a cup of tea at hand.




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Make a shopping list

Shopping lists don’t just prevent you from forgetting to pick up an item at the store, they also help steer you away from impulsively picking up non-essentials. Shopping lists are most commonly used for grocery shopping (a veritable minefield of potential impulse purchases) but can also be used for tracking pretty much anything you need, so you don’t come home with what you don’t.




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Avoid passive shopping

Smartphones and sneaky digital marketing tactics have turned us into passive consumers with shopping devices in our pockets. Ads are everywhere: They’re peppered in the podcasts we listen to, or our social media feeds, and in the increasing prevalence of promotional email newsletters. By avoiding these marketing traps and recognizing what we’re doing when we find ourselves, say, scrolling through our favourite brand’s Instagram while waiting in line at the grocery store, we can avoid the temptation of impulse spending.




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Repair rather than buy new

Rather than tossing an appliance when it’s starting to show signs of aging, or throwing out a sweater that’s starting to tear, consider whether it can be salvaged. Often, clothes can be made to look like new with a little bit of darning or a simple dye. Electric appliances and computers can be restored to their former glory for much cheaper than it costs to replace (although a general rule of thumb is not to replace anything unless repairing it costs over 50 per cent of what it would cost to replace it). Not only will you save money, you’ll also save the item at hand from a premature trip to the landfill.




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Go green

Much in the way that quitting unhealthy habits like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption will help you save money; so will quitting some habits that are unhealthy for the planet. Taking public transit rather than driving, cutting out beef consumption, buying used, repairing rather than replacing and shopping at bulk shops and refill stations rather than buying individual packages are all ways to lessen your environmental impact while also saving money.




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Find an accountability partner

If you have trouble keeping yourself on track towards your financial goals, you may consider enlisting the help of a friend who is also trying to move towards their own financial goal. By regularly checking in with a financial accountability partner, you can track your progress together, receive consistent validation and encouragement towards your goals, and enjoy free or cheap activities together without judgment.




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Look for used options before buying new

Not only is buying used or pre-loved more environmentally friendly than buying new, it’s also cheaper and easier than it used to be. Before dropping big bucks on new kitchen appliances, electronics or designer clothing, do a quick search through online community marketplaces or find your nearest consignment shop before hitting the mall.




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Take an inventory of the stuff you have

If our society’s current obsession with minimalism has taught us anything, it’s that it’s far too easy to accumulate items that just turn into clutter. By doing a full-scale audit of the stuff you have, you may be able to find a new purpose for your old things, dissuade yourself not to buy new items by confronting the sheer volume of stuff you’ve collected over the years, or find opportunities to sell some perfectly good items you no longer use to make some easy cash.




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Do a no-spend

A really effective way to reset your spending habits is by devoting several days or weeks to not buying anything. This can be done in a way to fit your schedule: Maybe your schedule can only accommodate two or three no-spend days a week, or maybe you can do a whole week or month or even a year without buying anything outside of the bare necessities. Whichever way that works best for you will still help change your long-term perspective when it comes to spending money.




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Borrow rather than buy

If you need an item that you know you’re only going to use once (like tools, certain baking supplies, extra dishes for a party, etc.), consider borrowing it from a friend, family member or neighbour. Not only will you save money, you will also save space in your home, reduce your ecological footprint by not buying new, and create a stronger community of trust.




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Buy quality products

Given all that’s come before this, it might be surprising to hear that purchasing quality products is a recommended tactic to cut down on spending. However, spending more money on things like high-quality clothing, footwear, appliances and furniture will end up costing you less than buying something cheap, having it break, and then having to repurchase it. By investing in quality, you’re investing in the long-term future. By recognizing the quality in what you’re buying, you’ll also be making a conscious and deliberate decision to shop responsibility.




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Consider cost per use

If you’re on the fence about whether to buy something, a simple calculation can easily make your decision for you: Just consider how many times you’re realistically going to use the item. For example, a designer purse might seem like an extravagant purchase, but if you’re head over heels in love with it and anticipate using it on a daily basis for years, then it might just be a worthy purchase. If you’re bewitched by a trendy sweater in a store, consider how many sweaters you’ve purchased that have slowly shuffled to the back of your closet. Calculating the cost per use of an item will keep you level-headed when it comes to acquiring new things.




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Look after your mental health

If you’re feeling the itch to shop, consider if there’s a bigger issue in your emotional life. Often, when we feel anxious or stressed out or angry, that’s when we’re more likely to indulge in a little retail therapy. But too much shopping may indicate a larger problem, and it could lead to financial vulnerability and regret at overspending. If you’re getting the itch to hit the mall more and more frequently, you may want to take a step back and ask if there’s a deeper issue with your emotional state.




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