Simple Ways to Save Money without Sacrificing Your Quality of Life

There’s nothing better than finding an entire outfit for less than $75… am I right? Especially when it looks put together, on-trend and fashion forward. I’ve been trying to find all of the good deals lately in hopes of saving some money to pay off post-wedding bills. Keep reading to see my simple ways to save money without sacrificing your quality of life (or style)!

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White Button Up  (similar) | Target “Mom Jeans” (similar) | Target Velvet Sneakers

After the wedding, I realized just how much money I had spent in the past year with wedding planning and buying + furnishing our new house. I knew that I had to make some changes in order to pay off the bit of debt that I had accumulated over the last year of fun and exciting purchases. I try not to have regret or buyer’s remorse, so instead of beating myself up about what I have spent, I choose to change how I spend in the future by saving and cutting costs.

Sell What You Have and Don’t Need

We (mostly I) have a lot of stuff. I have my own, very full closet and we even have extra furniture and decor leftover from our apartment. One of the first things I did when I realized I needed to take control of my finances was to go through my closet and collect all of the clothing items that I never wore. I then took them all right to Plato’s Closet to see what I could get for them. Sadly, they took 40 items for less than $2 a piece, but I still got about $75 in cash which I plan to use only on food and coffee.

Don’t Buy Seasonal Items

So I kind of fell victim to fall decor this year, but I really held back in the amount I was buying. I ended up with 2 pumpkins and decided to return the pillow I purchased. It’s really easy to fall into the seasonal trap, whether you shop at Home Goods, Target or even Whole Foods. But knowing that you’re spending money on something that will be on display for only a couple months of the year is not the best use of your money when you’re trying to save. This is why I really only invest in Christmas and winter decor! Now that we know we’ll be in one house for many years, I’ll be collecting holiday decor but trying to focus only on one holiday per year.

DIY Your Projects

Since moving into our home last year (officially one year as of yesterday!), we did a lot of home projects on our own. We ripped out carpet and laid hardwoods, retiled the fireplace and installed a barn door to replace our master bedroom door. The only thing we paid someone to do was to paint the entire place the first week we moved in. This saved us a whole lot of money, but we still got what we wanted. Sure, it took a little bit more time and wasn’t quite as perfect, but we were able to do projects together (and with our friends and family) while saving money at the same time. So it was fun.

The same goes for other things in your life, like doing your nails. I love getting a manicure and pedicure and I really love gel manicures. There was a time in my life that I would go at least once a month. However, with the cost of nail polish v. the cost of paying someone to do it plus the frequency at which you have to get it done to look good… it just doesn’t make sense. Now, it’s a luxury that I’ll only divulge in when I’m with someone else or I really need it. I’ve also learned how to make some of my favorite Starbucks drinks at home to save on that very expensive habit.

Eliminate (or Replace) Monthly Expenses

This was the hardest part for me. I have a lot of monthly memberships that make my life easier, but are not necessarily required to live. I ended up cancelling 4-5 monthly memberships as soon as we got back from our honeymoon. These being my monthly massage membership, my Orange Theory membership, a blogging tool and Weight Watchers. I’ve kept Netflix and Spotify because I use these daily, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up cancelling Netflix.

The easiest way to decide what to get rid of is to make a list of all of your monthly expenses and how much they cost. Then multiply that by the 12 months in the year to get a better idea of how much it’s costing you compared to your yearly salary. It’s a little bit eye opening! If there are any that don’t scream out to you, divide the monthly price by 30 to get the price you’re paying daily and consider whether or not this is worth it based on how much you use the service.

The hardest memberships for me to get rid of were Orange Theory and my massage membership. Afterall, I’ve been seeing the same massage therapist for more than 2 years and about 2 years ago is when my anxiety really diminished. But I’ve decided it’ll save me money to go see her once every 3-4 months for 90 minutes and I’ll truly enjoy massages more when I have them less. As for Orange Theory… well, I’ll really miss that one. But I’ll be trying out Andy’s gym (which is a little cheaper) so that we can spend more time together.

Eliminating expenses is never easy, especially for me. I’d much rather just try to make more money. However, I realize I’ve spent more than I have over the past year and it hit me hard that I need to change my habits! Now that we’re a family (and one day may have a bigger one!) I’ve realized that I need to be more intentional about my saving and spending.

What has helped you save money? Share your tips below!