At the top of everyone’s New Years’ resolution you’ll probably find something regarding money. I think the best thing you can do for yourself is to save on expensive habits and spend less by recreating it at home. This year, I’m challenging you to #SpendLess20 with these 20 tips on how to reduce your spending during the new year. Bonus, some of these tips will help you reduce your waste and carbon footprint.
- Instead of committing to a gym membership, look for free workout classes in your area. If you live in Midtown, we have a list of studios that let you have free workout classes here.
- Brew coffee at home. Save almost $15 per week (that’s $780 per year) on brewing coffee at home. This is our favorite way to do so!
- Walk/carpool to complete one chore this month. If you live near neighbors or in the city, make it a challenge to complete one chore by walking or carpooling. 8 blocks is not far to walk for a light grocery run.
- Make your favorite smoothie at that expensive healthy restaurant at home
- Need a new outfit? Buy secondhand at thrift stores, thredup, and poshmark
- Have a pantry clean out meal. I see you storing those chickpeas in the back, make a crispy chickpea salad or some fresh hummus!
- Make lunch for work one day a week. Eating out for lunch is typically unhealthy and takes time out from relaxing on your break. Try to bring in one lunch per week. Soup and salad are easy to transport in these containers.
- Make your iced coffee on the go habit from leftover morning brew and store in these fantastic collapsible cups.
- Make weekend brunch at home a thing: avocado toast cost at home is 68% less than at a restaurant
- Set up a recurring meal plan, buy items you eat the most in bulk. With a recurring meal plan, you know what you’re purchasing so you can buy the non-perishable items in bulk (like grains and meats that freeze well) to save a few dollars.
- Unsubscribe from tempting retail emails, use a service like unroll me to do it in one click.
- Clean out the back of your closet, donate and resell what you can. Here’s our post on how to clean out a closet successfully.
- Host happy hour at home, ask everyone to bring a sharable dish in exchange for cocktails for everyone. Cocktails for a group of 6 would cost way less than two people eating out at a nice restaurant. Try one of our cocktail recipes!
- Refinance your high-interest debt or student loans with a service like SoFi. I refinanced my student loans with SoFi and not only will I pay them off 3 years earlier but also save $1,500 over the lifecycle of the loan. See post here. If you sign up with this link you’ll get $100 toward paying down your debt!
- Skip the dry cleaner wash your sweaters at home when the season is over.
- Share your streaming services with family. If your sister has Disney + tell her you’ll trade your Netflix login for her Disney + login.
- Shop end of season sales for the next season. Fashion doesn’t change dramatically from year to year, so if you’re looking for white pants, buy them at the end of summer, if you’re looking for ski clothes, buy them at the end of winter.
- Always ask to refinance your car insurance after 6 months. If you haven’t had any major tickets or accidents, you should be able to score a discount.
- Plant herbs in a windowsill herb garden or outside. One of the most commonly wasted items is fresh herbs so try your hand at growing some this year.
- If you use veggies for a recipe and have a few lingering pieces of usable produce left, chop into little pieces and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. It could save you the few dollars you’d need to spend to buy it next time.
There are a ton of ways to spend less money in the new year, so I hope these tips help you throughout the decade.
