It’s simple to say there are two ways to have more cash flow: to earn more or cut expenses. It’s harder to map out a plan to figure out how to successfully do either. Both can help you get ahead, and we’ll dive into both topics here (check out our entrepreneurship station and budgeting station for more tips on both). Today, however, I wanted to share 13 ways to cut spending and save money on a tight budget to help you find that margin with your money and get ahead.
Before we dive in, though, a little housekeeping.
Our favorite way to save money is to make a budget. Without telling your money where the trail is, it’s likely to wander out into the woods and off the side of the mountain.
We know firsthand that making your first budget can be a struggle. And if you’ve been living life without a budget for years, the sticker shock realization of how much you spend can also knock you off the mountain. Sometimes, you need a big change to supercharge your finances, such as downsizing to a smaller home or selling a car you can’t afford, but often you can make noticeable differences with day-to-day decisions.
13 of our favorite everyday ways to cut down spending monthly to help you save when money is tight
1. Skip eating out
This is one of the biggest budget busters we’ve seen, especially since moving to a higher cost-of-living area where restaurants are stupid expensive. When we were paying off debt, we almost never ate out. Now, we’ve loosened the reins, but still keep the demon at bay. We budget $150 a month for eating out, which is about once a week for us.
The rest of the month, we use that expansive space in our house called the kitchen that we pay a lot to have. I cook, and my husband does dishes. I meal plan once a week, and he does the grocery shopping. Division of labor, baby. Most weeknights, we do meals that are just as quick as if we went out to eat, especially once you factor in getting there and driving back home.
When we’re feeling fancy like that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake, we make copycat recipes for a fraction of the cost.
Explore our favorite copycat restaurants to make at home.
As an extra hack, we’re mindful of what we buy in the grocery store to keep from just shifting spending from one category to another. We are Aldis and Walmart people. Whole Foods can’t have our whole paycheck. Sorry, not sorry.
Check out more ways to lower your grocery bill.
2. Blame it on the alcohol (and Starbucks)
Blame it on the Goose that gotcha feeling loose.
Or maybe it’s the ‘Tron that got you in the zone.
Either way, just like you eat your money dining out, it’s easy to drink it away. It could be the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol in the club or at home, but it doesn’t have to be. In our house, it’s often Gatorade or what we affectionately call La Horocrux. Bottled water, sparkling water, flavored water–they all add up. So do sodas and juices, especially when dining out.
This includes death by a thousand cuts for your Starbucks or Dunkies addictions, too. There’s no reason to pay $5 for a cup of tea with a ton of sugar that’s going to give you diabetes or $3 for coffee with industrial grade creamer. If you need your hot or iced morning or afternoon pick-me-up, make it at home.
3. Ditch the brand names
There are very few brand names that are worth the extra cost. We aren’t about giving up everything in life that you love for the sake of money, so we aren’t suggesting you give up your beloved Pop-Tarts for the Walmart cardboard alternative. But for the 95% of products where it doesn’t matter, save the money. It can add up with each grocery trip over the weeks, months, and years.
Learn more about shopping generic vs name brands.
4. Cut out subscriptions
Companies knew what they were doing when everyone and their grandmother switched to a subscription-based business model. A motto we use with investing is “set it and forget it.” This is great for building wealth over time, but if we aren’t careful, it can work against us and slowly drain us of our wealth over time, too.
When I did our subscription sendoff challenge, I actually had to go back and edit the article after publishing it as an annual PlayStation Network subscription hit that I forgot. Given that the subscription is almost $100, that’s a big oversight equal to a week of groceries for us. When money is tight, I would much rather be able to eat. My hubby can play offline only, it won’t kill him.
Subscriptions seem to accost us from every side like the seagulls in Finding Nemo, trying to make your money theirs theirs theirs instead of mine mine mine.
Cutting out subscriptions can save you hundreds a month. Examples you can likely cut include:
- Streaming (this is a big one and I promise, we’ve survived without any) – try the library instead
- Gaming (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Twitch, etc.)
- Beverage subscriptions (coffee, wine, etc.)
- “Free” shipping deals (Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, etc.)
Get rid of your precious Amazon Prime? Did I really. Yes, yes I did.
I promise, you can survive with Amazon Prime.
5. Limit purchasing entertainment
Above, I mention streaming. This includes music services such as Amazon Music (Unlimited) and Spotify. It also includes audiobooks like Audible.
Along with streaming, we’re mindful of how much we spend on other entertainment a month. Otherwise, our bank account springs more leaks than the boat they almost drown in in Dunkirk. I have an unhealthy obsession with buying books I don’t read, and my husband collects video games almost as quickly if we’re left unchecked.
To keep our money on our metaphorical trail, we budget $150 a month for entertainment. We try to split this equally.
To help keep this part of our budget from ballooning, we’ve gotten creative over the years. Consider:
- Borrow movies, music, books, and video games from the library instead of renting, buying, or streaming them
- Borrow them from friends as well (which gives you something to talk about as a bonus at the next potluck)
- Skip seeing movies in theaters and opt for the library or Redbox (they do still exist!)
- Do club nights at home versus going out – we have a free playlist we put on shuffle, ads and all
- Opt for the free community events versus expensive alternatives
- Opt outside for free entertainment
6. Keep possessions–especially tech–longer
We use our phones every hour of every day unless we’re sleeping. They’ve become almost a detachable limb, an extension of our hands and brains. They have a value, but the financial value we’ve put on them has gotten out of hand.
It’s become the norm now to finance new phones, often at $30 to $40 a month! As the financing comes to the end, phone providers send little reminders that you’re eligible for a “free” upgrade to keep you continually on the churn of that $30-$40 payment. And then there’s phone insurance on top of that.
No thank you. We keep our phones until they are so buggy they need to be doused in DEET. We also opt for the cheaper phones that still get the job done. Instead of the iPhone 15, we opted for the Frankensteined iPhone SE for ⅕ of the cost. And when mine updated and bricked itself two years in, I got fed up with the planned obsolescence that Apple loves and switched back to Android.
Phones aren’t the only culprit. Our TVs are 12 years old and 10 years old and they still work perfectly fine. My Kindle is the joyous age of 5.
It’s easy to update iPads and smart watches every year or three with Black Friday sales, but those decisions compound over time.
Outside of tech, look at your wardrobe, your decor, your kids’ toys. Your cars (especially cars). Extending the life of everything you own that you’ve paid off saves you money on upgrades you can live without.
7. Forego the high fashion
I love looking at beautiful dresses and funny graphic T’s at Target while we’re walking around enjoying the free air conditioning in the summer. The clothes on the rack rotate out every season, and there’s always something that catches my eye. I’ll run my fingers over the fabric, imagine wearing it… and then walk away.
We hardly spend anything on clothing, which saves us $1,500 a year compared to what the average American spends. The majority of my wardrobe is 10+ years old.
When we do buy new clothing, like our new outdoor gear since we no longer live in Florida where “winter is coming” is as ironic as in GoT, we shop the clearance options. This means none of our hiking clothes match or even color coordinate, but whatever. The bears don’t care what color your puffer jacket is.
8. Buy second hand over brand new
If I need a new dress for a wedding or a work function, I skip the current season trends at Target and head to Goodwill instead. The reality is no one knows what’s “in” season unless you work in the fashion industry (and even then, it’s debatable). Each wedding I’ve been to, I’ve gotten multiple compliments on my dress and questions about where I got it. Now, my mom takes one look, smiles, and asks, “Another Goodwill find?”
Fashion isn’t the only focus for this category. When I moved into my first apartment, my old neighbors spring cleaned and donated a bunch of old furniture to the “get Lauren’s apartment furnished” cause. Most of that furniture I kept for a decade or longer.
Now, we continue to look for secondhand options at Goodwill, garage sales, and marketplace apps.
Learn how to master the Facebook Martketplace.
9. Embrace the natural, beautiful you
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from my neighbor who told me to find someone who loved me fresh out of bed first thing in the morning, without makeup or an updo.
Makeup can add up quickly, as can getting your nails and hair done. While I like to get dressed up for special occasions, on the day to day I opt for all natural to save money and time. Plus, it’s nice to feel pretty every day without having to put on a mask. Embrace your natural beauty.
10. Reshop your insurances and services
Similar to subscriptions, these can increase heavily and build up. Your phone service is a prime example. Car insurance and homeowners can steadily increase until you feel like they’ve wrecked you.
While swapping insurance companies every single year can put a red flag on your record and cause more issues than it helps, shopping every few years can be a great way to make sure insurance companies aren’t taking advantage of you.
In many areas, utilities like water and electric companies have monopolies, but you can sometimes shop between a few options. You also usually have control over your internet provider and phone provider. Pitting them against each other and threatening to leave (or actually switching) can help you lower your monthly bill.
11. Travel on the cheap
When money is tighter than non-Spandex pants after Christmas dinner, we argue you shouldn’t be traveling for a season. Way too many people fund travel with credit cards, and that interest rate kills them month after month.
When you can afford to travel, opt out of the Four Seasons hotels and the Blue Ridge McMansion cabin. Stay in the budget Best Westerns and the “cozy” Airbnb instead.
For your travel destination, opt for Dollywood over Disney. Or better yet, do what we love and explore the national parks or state parks that are free or cheap. All these opinions offer multiple opportunities for fun, but on different levels of cost.
Also, evaluate when you go. Traveling in the off season can be a great way to save not only money but time by avoiding heavier crowds.
Explore all our travel budgeting tips.
12. Guards up and knives out against impulse purchases
This can be a simple pack of gum or a Butterfinger bar snagged at the check-out line or can be a huge purchase like a car you finance after stopping by the dealership on a whim. It also includes everything in between, from books on an unplanned trip by B&N or a new TV. It can even be snacks at the grocery store.
Intentionality is a key to winning with your money.
If you tend to impulse buy at the grocery store, meal plan and make a grocery list ahead of them. (And then stick to the list.)
Dive deeper into ways to cut back your grocery budget.
If you impulse buy online, leave things in your online cart overnight or for a few days.
Learn how to curb your Amazon addiction.
If you pick up unplanned purchases with extra stops out and about, for the love of Emily Henry, stay outta the bookstore.
13. Brush the FOMO off your shoulders
Intentionality applies not just to what you buy, but why you buy it. Buy what you need and what will truly bring you contentment, not just because society tells you hey, you ought to have it.
If you’re tryna hustle things that go with the Porsche just to impress people in parking lots, at red lights, and around the break room, it’s time to reevaluate your spending habits. Keeping up with the Joneses is one of the best ways to assure you stay broke indefinitely.
Don’t give others the power to influence what you buy. Buy what brings you joy (and that you can afford without debt or stress), and leave the rest on the shelves.
The final word
Focus on the small, incremental changes you can make each day, at least at first. These are easier habits to build versus throwing your entire life and budget into the air and praying you stick the landing. In this case, you’re more likely to end up on Tosh.0 than in the Olympics.
Making even these “small” changes can be hard and take time. Have grace with yourself, especially if this is your first time focusing on taking control of your money.
If you need encouragement, drop us a line in our budgeting and personal finance community. If you want more tips on how to save money, explore all our budgeting tips and tricks.