Things I stopped Buying to save money

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Adopting a frugal lifestyle hasn’t been easy but you won’t see me complaining about having extra money. It’s crazy how there are simple things that you can stop doing that can lead to huge savings and still be able to enjoy life. Below is a list of things I stopped buying to save money that I didn’t realize were costing me so much money.

If you are trying to save money like me taking a look at your spending habits helps you to see the things that you spend your money on. Take a look at your credit card statement and see how much you spend on restaurants, phones, cable etc Assess to see if there are opportunities to save money by cutting back. Budgets are a great tool towards creating financial freedom so before you even start cutting back it may be time to create a budget that works!

When I took time to analyze my spending habits and saw how much I was spending on some of the things below I was stunned. Who knew dinner and lunch could get so expensive in the long run? It really made me pause and ask myself if I was being smart by spending my hard earned money on these things.

Things I stopped buying to save money

Table of Contents

Dinner

I consciously stopped eating out because it cost too much money. Even when I set a budget for the night somehow a few drinks in I would be spending double what I had set aside. Dinner and drinks would easily set me back close to $200 per week and it just didn’t make sense with a frugal lifestyle.
If you think this is unrealistic try going out with a few girlfriends over a weekend starting Friday night and ending at brunch on Sunday. You could easily spend more than $200 over a weekend.

Lets think about that for a minute. If you spend $200 on dinner for 56 weeks that’s $11,200. This is the equivalent of half a whole new car. This doesn’t even include a random lunch or breakfast which I talk about below. It could easily be $15,000 a year on just eating out. If you are trying to be more frugal this is one big ticket item you can cut back on.

To get into a habit of not eating out start meal planning. I have 5 easy meal prep ideas that can be used during the busy work week and that will go a long way in saving money.

Breakfast & Lunch

I separated breakfast and lunch from dinner spend because if you are like me you probably justify these expenses every day. I used to gloss over this expense as a necessary evil. However if you are trying to be more frugal to save money it’s time to cut back on that $5 cup of coffee and $10 salad.

Let’s get into the weeds with this. If you spend $75 a week on just lunch and breakfast that’s close to $5,000 per year. If you are a working couple that’s $10,000! Imagine what you could do with half of this money as savings. You can probably afford that vacation you’ve been pushing off now.

One way to stop spending money on coffee and a sandwich is to make them at home every morning. You’ll spend a fraction of this on a great healthy breakfast and skip the line as well. Alternatively make breakfast the previous night like overnight oats and just grab and go in the morning. I have gotten into the habit of meal prepping so my lunches and breakfast are pre-planned which has gone a long way in saving money.

If you think about it the cost of buying the ingredients of a salad are probably equal to 10 salads. So for $30 you could make 10 salads verses $100 on the exact same salad!

Individually Wrapped Items

I started buying things in bulk and stopped buying small travel size bottles, individually wrapped toilet paper and paper towels. It always seems like a good deal to buy smaller portions of things but in reality you end up saving much more money when you buy in bulk. That 99 cents for a roll of paper towel is way more expensive than if you bought in bulk.

I now shop at Costcos for most of my household products. I refill bottles of shampoo, hand soap, detergent, body wash and dish soap. By buying in bulk and couponing I save money because buying a bottle of shampoo three times is more expensive than buying a bigger bottle once.

Impulsive Grocery Shopping

Of the things I stopped buying to save money, shopping impulsively was one of them. I stopped buying on impulse. Do you ever pop into the grocery store without a plan in mind? Or even more commonly have you gone to buy one thing like toothpaste and $100 later you walk out the store wondering what just happened?

I have now stopped impulsively buying things at the grocery store. I make a weekly plan and when I go into the store I only buy what’s on the list. If its food shopping I know exactly what I need for my weekly meal prep, I know exactly how much I’ll spend and I stick to the plan.

I also try to avoid buying those little ‘wallet trappers’ they like to place at the isle corners or at the counter. I don’t even look at them. It’s usually things that you don’t need like candy or some household item you absolutely don’t need that waste your money.

Paper Towels

I replaced paper towels with dish clothes. There are these Clorox reusable wipes I have linked that are a huge saver and they are good for the environment as well. They are durable and can be used multiple times before you have to toss them out. Compared to using paper towels these wipes are great.

I haven’t truly adopted using dish clothes so these reusable wipes are a great alternative. Over time I will convert completely and start using washable dish clothes to save even more and reduce wastage.

Bottled Water

Bottled water is expensive y’all! Spending $4-$5 on water every week verses close to nothing on filtered water could lead to savings that can be used towards something else. Buy this reusable bottle and use it at work too.
As a traveler I take mine with me everywhere and fill up even at the airport where the cost of a bottle of water is almost the same price as a 24 pack.

It’s mind boggling how expensive bottled water can get. If you have a fridge that has filtered water then it’s a great option for saving money.
If you are family of four getting through a 24 pack of water in less than a week is probably the norm. You could be saving $10 a week on just water.

Hair Salon Visits

I have always been a DIY type of person. As long as there is YouTube I believe I can do all things DIY. I save salon visits for special occasions otherwise I do my hair myself. I recently jokingly told my hair stylist that I couldn’t afford frequent visits. She actually told me she totally understood what I was saying. She got into the business by DIYing her hair.

Look up directions on YouTube and take the time to learn. A salon visit could easily set you back $100. If you visit the salon 2 times a month that’s $200. Imagine what you could do with that money. The next time you visit a hair salon ask yourself what you could avoid paying for and diy.
We cut my nephew’s hair at home and if I had kids I would probably do their hair myself.

Things I don’t need

Do you ever buy things because they were on sale or because they were cute? I used to do that all the time until I realized that just because a dress was on sale didn’t mean it wasn’t costing me money.

There’s this weird psychological thing that we do where we convince ourselves that just because we aren’t paying full price it’s okay to spend money. However it’s still money out of your pocket! So the next time you see a sale sign keep walking.

I love shopping at Tj Max or Target and you will always see cute stuff that you don’t need. Seriously I am convinced Target has voodoo powers. Now if something is not on the shopping list it doesn’t get on the cart.

Pre-packaged Anything

I stopped buying anything that was precooked or prepped. This includes fruits, vegetables and food. All these items have a special tax that I like to call the ‘convenience tax’ that you shouldn’t have to pay for.

If you need to cook a vegetable mix buy the vegetables separately and mix them up yourself. It will always be cheaper and more economical. Also you get to mix it up yourself. Fruits are the highest culprit and will always be more expensive. A cup of premixed fruits for example will cost up to $5 while the same mix of individual whole fruits could cost less and you can make extra later.

As for food and salads l these will cost you so much more than making them yourself. Pre-mixed salads are always more expensive and are usually less in quantity and quality. The next time you shop for food buy what you need and mix them up yourself then compare how much you can yield for the same amount of money you would spend on a pre-made meal or salad.

These 9 things that I stopped buying to save money used to seem so important until I gave them up. Start making things yourself and avoid pre-packaged things. Stop buying things you don’t need. Avoid eating out so much. Ease yourself into these habits and start being more frugal with your money.