It is extremely easy to get caught up in bad habits and end up spending a ton of money on unnecessary things. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we all do it.
In efforts to save money and pay off debt this year, I decided it is time to look at my finances and cut out the unnecessary spending.
The first thing I did was open a spreadsheet and run through my bank statements from the last few months. I wrote out everything I spent money on and highlighted each category (fast food, shopping, entertainment, etc.). Then at the end, I added up how much extra money I was spending in each category.
WOW. I was so surprised. I always thought I was super frugal, but Chick Fil A drive-thru and going to the movies really adds up quickly.
Breaking down where my money was going each month really helped put things into perspective which made it so much easier for me to focus on saving the money instead of spending it.
With just a few lifestyle tweaks, you can reach major savings goals this year. All it takes is cutting out the non-essentials. And once you realize how much you are actually spending on these things, cutting them out will be EASY.
Things People Spend Way Too Much Money On…
Fancy Coffee – Average Spending: $1,040 per year
The average Starbucks drink costs about $4. So let’s say you stop at Starbucks Monday- Friday on your way to work…
That is $1,040 per year!
If you are a couple and you both stop for coffee in the mornings… that really really adds up.
A cup of coffee brewed at home is probably less than .20 cents. If you really can’t stand drinking regular coffee and you purchase something like the Ninja Coffee Bar to brew fancy coffee at home you are still saving an incredible amount of money since the coffee bar costs less than $200.
Fast Food Lunches – Average Spending: $1,000 per year
If you eat out for lunch 3 days per week at $6 a meal, that equals almost $1,000 per year… and $6 is a conservative price for fast food meals!
Packing your lunch at home is not only healthier, but it will also save you SO much money.
Not to mention, eating out for dinner! If you and your spouse (or family) regularly eat out for dinner instead of cooking you are probably spending A TON of money.
Cable TV – Average Spending: $1,000 per year
USA Today reports that the average monthly price of a cable TV package is $100 per month. I calculated this at $80 per month just to be conservative and it comes out to almost $1,000 per year.
There is no need to spend that much on cable TV when we have so many other options these days like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Amazon even allows you to add on channels like HBO or Showtime so that you are only really paying for the channels you use.
Try Amazon Prime free for 30 days here.
Beauty Services – Average Spending: $300 per month or $3,600 per year
Groupon conducted a survey to find out how much women spend on their personal appearance per month and the results were an astounding $313 per month! This includes things like hair and nail appointments, makeup, skincare, etc.
By cutting out those professional services and doing it yourself or maybe ditching the hair dye for your natural color you can save a vacation’s worth of money each year.
Tanning memberships, nail appointments, facials, etc. are all things that we can do without while we are trying to save money!
Gym Memberships – Average Spending: $500 per year
Fitness memberships are HUGE right now. Between your average gym membership costs and specialty gym memberships like OrangeTheory or SoulCycle, you can save a huge amount of money by canceling these.
Not that there is anything wrong with investing money into your health and well being, but if you are trying to save a large amount of money, consider canceling these memberships and working out at home.
There are TONS of free workout resources on Youtube and Pinterest that you can use at home!
Other things you can cut out and save money…
- Buying books – check books out from the library! You can also read free books with your Amazon Prime membership or check with your library and see if they use a service like Libby where you can read books for free on your phone.
- Music – listen to music for free with a Pandora, Spotify, or YouTube account.
- Clothing – instead of buying new clothing you can shop on Poshmark, ThreadUp, or at thrift stores for gently used clothes.
- Water Bottles – use a reusable water bottle and stop buying plastic ones!
Save $5000 in 52 Weeks
If you cut out all of these things and are super committed, it should be relatively easy for you to save $5,000 in 52 weeks.
Think of everything you could do with $5,000!
Pay off debt, save it, go on vacation!
If you want to join a 52 week savings plan, here is one you can follow.
This plan will give you $5,000 in savings at the end of 52 weeks!
Week:
- $40
- $75
- $90
- $100
- $80
- $100
- $75
- $96
- $120
- $85
- $65
- $120
- $98
- $75
- $150
- $85
- $50
- $125
- $90
- $120
- $85
- $100
- $75
- $150
- $50
- $120
- $75
- $80
- $125
- $80
- $150
- $85
- $75
- $100
- $90
- $120
- $85
- $75
- $140
- $100
- $90
- $75
- $130
- $90
- $125
- $85
- $150
- $125
- $80
- $125
- $75
- $51
! Amazon Family is apart of Amazon Prime and as a member you will receive free 2- day shipping, 20% off diapers, coupons, instant streaming of movies and tv shows (a must for late night feedings in my opinion!), and ad free music streaming among many other benefits. You have to cancel before the 30 days is over or they will charge your card $99 for a year long Amazon Family membership.
