If you want to hit your savings goals but you’re struggling to put money aside, you have two options: Make more money or cut back on your spending.
Of course, if you combine both of those things you’ll speed up your path to your savings goal even more.
When I decided to cut back, there were a few easy, and not-so-easy, things for me to cut from my budget. Here are 12 things I stopped buying to help me save.
These are commonly bought things that frugal people REFUSE to buy—not because they’re cheap, but because they know there’s a better way to spend money.
A problem
Have you ever seen a beautiful item of clothing, like a skirt. You buy it and get it home, then realise that none of your tops or shoes or jackets will work with it so you need to drop another £150 to create just one outfit that works with this skirt?
That’s what it means to buy yourself a problem.
Since I started examining my shopping habits one of the key things I’ve done differently is to only buy pieces that work with what I already have. I avoid anything that’s going to require additional spending to create just one outfit that works.
When it comes to clothes, aim to build a capsule wardrobe – where you have multiple pieces that all work together to create different outfits.
ALL the cleaning products
Aesthetic cleaning and organising has become as big as fashion and makeup on social media. I love a good cleaning cupboard organisation and cleaning routine video as much as the next person, but this has gotten out of hand.
We now have specific products for the most tiny of tasks when a single multi purpose spray, some vinegar or just soapy water will do just fine.
There is no need to spend hundreds on pretty spray bottles and miracle cleaners just so your cleaning cupboard looks nice. This is one area of the house where it’s OK for it to feel just functional.
The truth is you need very few products to clean your home, and generic is often just as good as the stuff that comes in the beautiful packaging.
Instead of buying a cleaner for your mirror, a cleaner for your sink, one for your toilet, and one that “smells like alpine waterfalls” (whatever that means), I go for multi-use solutions. Fewer products, less money, less clutter.
If it’s a priority for you to buy cleaning products from a green brand that prioritises recycling and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, then I totally get it. The solution here is you can do basically all of your home with just a multi-purpose cleaner. Floors, surfaces, hob, oven door, bathroom, all of it.
Single-use kitchen gadgets
I’ll admit there are some single use kitchen gadgets that are worth it, a can opener is a good example. But a banana slicer, an avocado slicer, an egg separator? Why not just use a knife or your hands?
I also find with this that my kitchen is not the biggest and we are just about managing to fit in the basics like a kettle, a toaster, the microwave, knives and all those essentials. We squeezed an air fryer in last year, but I can’t add a popcorn popper to the surface as well.
Bottled water
We have a cold water dispenser on our fridge freezer. I see no reason to buy bottled water when we have cold water on tap and more water bottles than people in our house.
12 bottles of water costs around £2 depending on where you buy it. I get that’s cheap, but it’s not as cheap as the free water you get from the tap at home.
Luxury brands
Designer brands have this way of convincing us we need that £2,000 bag to elevate our style or invest in quality. But we have to be honest: 90% of what you’re paying for is just the name.
These days luxury brands are not targeting the ultra-wealth, they’re targeting middle and lower income shoppers. A 2023 survey by Business Insider revealed that 1 in 3 Americans earning under $50,000 have purchased a luxury item—often using credit or “buy now, pay later” plans.
Luxury brands intentionally create an “aspirational” image, making people believe that owning a designer item will make them look wealthier or more successful than they actually are. Many luxury brands profit off people who can’t actually afford their products but buy them for status and social validation.
There’s a big difference between looking rich and actually being rich. The habits of millionaires show us that they actually avoid luxury items, because real wealth is about financial security and that’s in the assets you own, not the liabilities and designer labels.
This is not to say that you should avoid all designer logos. Plenty of people own that one really expensive pair of shoes or handbag. But you could try secondhand to find bargain items that you will enjoy, without the steep price tag of buying new.
Paper kitchen towels
Confession, we still buy the occasional paper towels because there are some things I just don’t want to clean up with our washable cloths. For example, something really gross, like the cat has a spillage from her litter tray. I want to ditch that and forget all about it.
However for things like wiping down the kitchen surface and mopping up spills, a stash of old cleaning cloths and kitchen tea towels do the job just fine.
Regular meals out
It’s fine to treat yourself to a takeaway or a meal out on occasion. I think a “fun money” budget is so important for sticking with your money plans.
However eating out regularly really adds up. Just one £70 meal out a week is £280 a month, or £3360 a year! That’s a decent chunk of change that could do other important work for you.
If you cut back to just one meal out a month, or even better one every other month, you more than halve that expense.
Instead of regular meals out and takeaways, I have looked for fun recipes that a copycats of my favourite takeaways and dinners.
Greeting cards
I don’t want to be a scrooge with this one. It can be nice to send a card for a special occasion. But they now sell greetings cards for every single life event and holiday.
Me and my husband do not exchange cards at Christmas or birthdays. Instead we’ll encourage the kids to make cards for us, which gives us something beautiful to keep.
It’s a small saving, and obviously there are going to be some cards that you’ll want to send. But I think homemade or a note in a very simple card can be just as nice as something written in a very extravagant personalised card.
Late fees
Getting organised with your finances is crucial to avoiding late fees.
By doing this you can avoid the pitfalls that come with having your head in the sand when bills land. Late fees and the cost of high interest debt can spiral. It’s money you don’t need to lose.
Wherever you can, automate payments. When you can’t, be sure to have a record of bills and when they are due, so you don’t get hit with fees.
A risk
It’s never been easier to invest thanks to online banking and the internet connecting us with opportunities around the world. However that also means it’s never been easier to come across a scam.
The promise of a sure thing can be really enticing, but more often than not, a risk is going to cost you dear. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A 2023 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report found that investment scams stole over $3.8 billion from Americans—mostly targeting people looking for quick profits.
For me personally, I prefer slow and steady over a rollercoaster. That means I rely on consistency of saving and investing over a long period of time using legitimate platforms and companies, rather than taking huge risks. I like being able to sleep at night. Prioritising long term growth over short term hype isn’t flashy, but it’s worked for me.
I have got some money invested in crypto, but it’s money I am prepared to lose. My real savings are in normal savings accounts, my pension and general investment accounts.
Expensive and extensive skincare collection
Just a caveat with this one, I’ve seen several skincare experts say it is worth getting a decent moisturiser. But for stuff that goes on your skin then immediately gets washed off like cleanser, it’s not worth parting with tons of money to buy.
And it’s also not worth buying every serum, tonic, toner, cleanser, lotion, skin plumper and all the other stuff out there. A three step skincare routine where you’re washing cleansing and moisturising is all most people really need, plus some sunscreen.
Lottery tickets
There’s around a 1 in 14 million chance of you winning the jackpot according to the National Lottery. I do not love those odds, especially given the chance of being struck by lightning is less than 1 in a million.
Instead of hoping for a win that the odds tell us is very unlikely to happen, frugal people instead count on the reliability of consistent saving and investing. You won’t win right away, but you’ll view it as a big win in the future.
I am putting £200 a month into ISAs I plan to not touch for the next few years. My app tells me I may have £17,700 by 2030, obviously depending on returns. I much prefer that kind of certainty.
Dry clean only clothing
I stopped buying dry clean only clothes after my kids were born. Laundry is such a chore anyway, but having to leave the house to drop off and pick up laundry and pay for the privilege is just not something I want to have to do.
Luxury food
When doing your food shop you could save money by being aware of two things: the different tiers supermarkets produce for their own brand and the cost of branded products vs generic.
We know that branded foods, for example Kelloggs cereals, will be pricier than the store generic version. I’ve swapped branded things I like here and there for generic, sometimes I find I don’t notice and sometimes I really don’t like it so I swapped back to the branded. It can be trial and error.
It’s also worth paying attention to the different tiers of food supermarkets produce, sometimes there are as many as three tiers.
Their low cost version, the middle range and a luxury tier.
I’ll admit, sometimes I like to splash out on the luxury tier, when it comes to ready meals. These taste better than other ready meals, but are less expensive than a takeaway.
I get there are some things where buying the luxury tier is needed because the other tiers don’t fulfil what you need, or you’re buying for a special occasion. But if you want to save money, try downshifting from branded to generic or to a lower tier among the supermarket own goods. You might be surprised.
New storage
I love having my stuff organised and for everything to have a home. However I honestly believe that 9 times out of 10 when the stuff in your household feels like it’s gotten out of hand and you cannot get things tidy no mater how much you try, you need less stuff not more storage.
Introducing more furniture and more storage to this type of situation can ultimately just lead to more stuff.
Regular decluttering of things you no longer use like old toys and clothes means that you free up space for the new things coming into your home, and you can make some money by selling these things on to someone else.
