15 Things I wish I knew to stop Buying to Save Money Faster

Buying coffee at a cafe every day used to add $4-$8 a day to my daily spending. That’s a whopping $1044 – $2088 over the course of a year!

Since I am completely hooked on coffee I didn’t want to just stop drinking it(or switch to that nasty instant coffee!!). So instead what I did was ask my lovely partner for a coffee machine as my birthday present and I now make my own coffee at home.

This best-selling coffee machine makes cappuccinos just as good as my local cafe for less than a quarter of the price! It even froths the milk and makes it super tasty and creamy.

All I do is buy a 2.2-pound bag of beans (which makes roughly 140 cups of coffee) Making the cost of a single cup of coffee less than 0.13 cents!

I also got this cute 20 oz personalized takeaway coffee mug to take my cappuccinos to work with me and it keeps my coffee hot for up to 7 hours! (Not that I could ever resist drinking it for that long)

6. Buying My Lunches

Takeaway lunches are amongst the main things frugal people don’t buy. I used to spend $5 – $10 a day on buying lunches on my work days adding up to $1305 – $2610 a year!

Instead, I now invested in this mega pack of 3 compartment reusable meal prep containers and make all of my lunches for the week on a Sunday by using the $5 meal plan (you can also try it out for FREE by clicking here!)

I have also started putting any leftovers I have from dinner to these containers and freezing them to enjoy as a quick lunch whenever I am short on time.

7. Gym Membership

Even though I secretly hate going to the gym, I used to always keep a membership costing $12 a week *just in case* I ever wanted to go to the gym.

Spoiler alert. I never went.

Because I thought of it as such a small expense I didn’t even bother canceling my membership. I didn’t even realize this pointless spending was adding up to $624 a year!

I finally canceled my gym membership in March 2018 and since then have saved $528 by not paying for the gym. Instead, I now exercise by running with my dog and using the huge selection of free exercise videos available on Youtube!

If you want to make your at-home workouts more effective I suggest investing in some basic resistance bands that cost less than $10 and allow you to perform strength training exercises without any actual weights.

8. Bottled Water

Not only is bottled water bad for the environment but it is also one of the dumbest thing to spend money on (since it’s basically free from your tap!).

If however, you’re not a big fan of the taste of tap water or worry about the additives, I recommend this cheap water pitcher with a filter that reduces chlorine taste and odour and any other additives found in your tap water. The filter needs to be replaced every 40 gallons and the replacement filters cost about $5 a pop. (About the price of 2-3 bottles of water)

To avoid having to buy bottled water when you’re out and about (or at work) I recommend buying a stainless steel vacuum insulated bottle and carry it with you everywhere you go. This will keep your cold water cold for hours + plus they look adorable!

9. Cooking Foil and Baking Paper

Even though I was only spending a couple of dollars a month of these I really cut out this expense for my health and also the environment’s sake.

Studies have shown that regular use of foil in cooking could be harmful to your health so I prefer not to use it at all. Instead, I use silicone cooking mats which are reusable and make cleaning up a breeze!

10. Brand Name Clothing and Accessories

I completely stopped buying brand-name shirts, dresses, and accessories. The truth is, cheaper alternatives like Forever 21, Fashion nova and H&M offer clothes with equally great quality at a quarter of the price. I also found amazing Amazon dupes for all my favorite activewear such as lululemon.

11. Air Refresher

Air refreshers are a complete waste of money in my opinion. I used to spend $5 a month on them which adds to $60 a year.

12. Greeting cards

Greeting cards are a waste of money. How many greeting cards that you’ve received have you actually kept for longer than a day? Use the tags that come on the gift bags and write your message there.

Or if you’re crafty, learn how to make a birthday explosion box using cardstock, colored paper and stickers by using this simple DIY guide by the Dating Divas

13. Organic Fruit and Vegetables

Here’s a shocker. There’s not that much of a difference between some organic and non-organic fruit and vegetables!

Organic fruit and veg always come with a higher price tag but the truth is you can get away with buying most of them non-organic. There are a few fruit and veg I still always buy organic though because of the high risk of heavy pesticide residue.

Some of these heavy risk food items include strawberries, spinach, apples, and tomatoes.

And the fruit and veg that is safe to buy non-organic are avocados, pineapple, onions, and broccoli.

14. Pre Made Spice Mixes

I have to confess I used to be a slave to certain pre-made spice mixes! I love the fajita mix, curry powder mix and more.

But when I was looking for ways to cut down on my food spending I discovered that most of these spice mix only contained 5-7 ingredients that were really cheap to buy in bulk. So I decided to start making my own spices mixes and it saves me a lot of money and best of all I know exactly how much salt and sugar goes into my food.

I like to store my homemade spice mixes in these cool magnetic spice jars on the side of my fridge for easy access.

15. Shaving Gel / Shaving Cream

I have to be honest and say I’ve actually been using this for years! This money-saving hack really changed my life when I discovered it back in 2016. I just buy the cheapest conditioner that I can find and use it instead of shaving gel. This leaves my legs silky smooth while also being able to save my money.

A bottle of $1 conditioner usually lasts for about 3-4 months as my shaving gel so the savings are huge!

16. Pharmaceutical Drugs With Brand Names

Here’s a secret the big pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know: most generic drugs do exactly the same thing as big brand name ones.

Often times you’ll hear your pharmacist ask if you want the generic version of the medicine or specific brand. I used to always buy the brand name one but after learning this truth I now always buy the generic version.

The specific medicine I buy every month used to cost me $17 a month but now I only pay $9 because I opted for the generic version! That’s a saving of $96 a year!

The generic drugs are equivalent to a brand name product in strength, dosage, quality and desired outcome but it doesn’t carry a specific brand name, therefore, is often a lot cheaper.

17. Floor Cleaner

I stopped buying expensive floor cleaners to clean our tile floors because I discovered that using some hot water and regular old white vinegar works just as well!

The vinegar costs just $2 a gallon bottle and lasts for months. Previously I was buying floor cleaner for $15 and needed to buy a new bottle every 2 months.

Hope you found some great ideas on how to avoid wasting money and things you shouldn’t be spending money on. Let me know which one of these is going to be the easiest for you to stop buying!