A good old fashioned budget we can stick to is without doubt the best way to save money long term.
But plenty of us - let's be honest - don't even have a budget and when we need to slash spending and save money fast the thought of writing one sends us into blind panic!!
And too often panic is paralysing.
So we need some super simple actions we can take instantly to stop money leaking away and that is exactly what I have got for you here.
It's a big list of payments we can can cancel, downgrade or offload right away to reduce our expenditure.
All you need to do is work through the list and take instant action on anything relevant to you.
Each action we take helps us to believe we can get our finances under control and into a head space where we can actually sit down and write a budget.
For quick reference bookmark or save the list for later.
50 Ways To Slash Spending
To slash spending easily, simply work through the list and take action to cancel or downgrade anything relevant to you in these categories :
- Travel & Leisure
- Phones & Communication
- Media
- Discount Clubs
- Software
- Finance
- Beauty Products
- Fitness
- Food & Drink
- Home & Garden
- Hobbies
- Mobile Apps
We want to build the momentum of acting fast successfully so everyday target some quick wins before committing time to the trickier items you know could be rabbit holes.
Travel & Leisure
Big travel and leisure bookings are one of the first things to cancel if we lose a job or income or face a financial emergency e.g. :
- Holiday bookings
- Theatre tickets
- Concert tickets
- Sports tickets
- Sports season tickets
- Cinema membership
We won't always get all the money back but the sooner we act the bigger saving we'll make.
Phones & Communication
We all need phones but there's a lot of fat in most contracts that can be cut and if money is very tight it is possible to cut right down on these :
- Cellphone data usage
- Cell phone contract
- Cable TV
- Landline - do you still need it?
- Broadband - could you share with a neighbour you trust?
- Zoom - if you're paying for it downgrade to the free service.
Media
There is huge amounts of free media content out there so none of us will really go short if we quit paying for these every month :
- Netflix
- Disney
- Amazon Prime
- Max
- Paramount
- Audible
- Spotify & music services
- Magazine subscriptions
- Newspaper subscriptions
Software
It is also easy over the years to end up paying for multiple versions of different software when we only need one or can get it for free e.g.
- Anti-Virus - we only need one!
- Microsoft Office
- Accounts Programs
- Personal Organiser
- Graphics
- Film Editing
It may only be a little going out every month but over a year it can be £50-£100 we could put to use to pay off debt or put in an emergency fund.
Finance
Some financial services we buy are just status symbols and make no financial sense. Look honestly at your financial services and see if you would be better off by downgrading :
- Premier banking
- Premier credit cards
Insurance is critical but check you are not doubling up on :
- Travel insurance
- Mobile phone insurance
They may be covered by home insurance or your bank account.
Beauty Treatments
Some regular beauty treatments become expensive habits we never question but by investing just a little time learning some frugal life skills we can save hundreds a year :
- Hair cuts
- Hair colourist - embrace your grey hair or go for super low maintenance highlights
- Manicures
- Pedicures
To save even more cancel any beauty box subscriptions and check out this list of toiletries you can easily stop buying to save more.
Fitness
We don't need to spend money to get fit or lose weight. Running in the park is free and many of us would benefit more by just walking a mile every day so cancel any :
- Personal trainers
- Gym membership
- Diet clubs.
Food & Drink
Many of us can save loads by cutting food waste and an easy instant way to do that is cancel any food or drink subscriptions we have e.g. :
- Vegetable boxes
- Meal plan & recipe boxes
- K Cup coffee subscriptions
- Wine club
- Coffee clubs
We can then save even more with these extremely frugal food tips.
Discount Clubs
Discount shopping clubs don't always save us money as we end up buying more in bulk than we need.
The truly easy way to save money is stop buying things we barely use.
So take a good hard look at any of these you are forking out for every month. Do they really save money?
- Amazon Prime
- CostCo
- Sam's Club
- BJs
Home & Garden
Big fixed costs like rent or a mortgage can't be cut fast but we can sometime save money instantly by switching to better deals for :
- Gas
- Electricity
- Water
- Heating oil etc.
And we can certainly slash spending fast by cutting any of these extras :
- Ironing services
- Dry cleaning services
- Dog walkers
- Cleaners
- Car wash & valeting
- Flower subscriptions
- Product protection
- Extended warranties.
If you can't find better deals on utilities there are all sorts of easy ways to save energy and pay less.
Hobbies
Cutting back on things the family loves doing isn't great but when finances go down hill suddenly it is best for everyone's wellbeing to take a break from extras like :
- Music lessons
- Dance lessons
- Baby classes
- Tennis club
- Ancestry sites
- Golf clubs
- Craft box subscriptions
- Gaming sites.
Mobile Apps
It is easy to lose track of paid apps on auto-renewal but if 4 or 5 of them can easily cost us hundreds a year.
Check your phone for any of these you can stop paying for :
- Gaming apps
- Brain training apps
- Weather apps
- Language apps
- Travel apps
- Organiser apps
- Gambling apps
And there you go, lots of easy ways to take action and save money fast.
In just one hour a day for a week we can stop a load of money leaking away AND give ourselves the confidence to build a budget for a life we can actually afford.
I hope the list helps. Let me know how you get on.
For more simple money saving advice check out these frugal living tips and follow me on Pinterest.
Photo: Glass jar for money on white background by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0
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