10 Things You Should Stop Buying To Save More Money

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average earnings for a household in the U.S. was $101,805 in 2023, with $77,280 of that after-tax income going into necessities like housing, food, and healthcare. Of course, there were also some less necessary purchases in that accounting, including variables like hobbies and entertainment, to vices like alcohol and cigarettes. A Pew Research Center poll conducted in May 2024 found that only 23% of Americans believed the country was doing well economically, with 49% not expecting their personal economic situation to change significantly a year from then. While age and political affiliation make the situation better or worse, ultimately concerns over financial matters like how much money the average American will need to retire comfortably only help exacerbate the crushing effects of money-phobia on millennials and Gen Zers. Compounding matters, although a Northwestern Mutual study found Americans expect a comfortable retirement to run them an average $1.46 million, a majority of Americans worry their retirement funds will run out.

Ask yourself how much Americans spend on Christmas decorations every year and you should get a sense of how money is being spent without much consideration for saving. There are many things you should stop buying to save money — money you can instead use to bolster your retirement savings or investment portfolio.

Paying for tech upgrades are rarely worth it, especially if the older tech continues to serve its purpose. Whether acting as a business or an individual, it's important to consider if an upgrade brings value to you. Do you need AI capabilities on your new phone enough to be willing to shell out $200 more? To quote professional home organizer and consultant Marie Kondo's KonMari philosophy, will the upgrade "spark joy," which she describes as "a little thrill, as if the cells in your body are slowly rising." At least, question whether it will make you significantly more happy than what you already have. If the answer is no, then reconsider an upgrade.

That said, there are times when keeping obsolete tech can actually cost you more money in the long run, with the cost of maintaining an item adding up quickly. Also, slower service, frequent glitches, and a growing incompatibility with newer technologies can be frustrating, and is likely to have an adverse effect on how much joy your older tech sparks. You can still save money through trade-ins of old technology against newer tech, and it's actually one of the five best ways to save money on Apple products. For instance, perusing Apple's trade-in page, you could save anywhere from $40 to $650 on the purchase of a new phone by trading in an iPhone 7 up to iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Aside from creating additional clutter in your home, what's really the value of holding onto souvenirs from every place you've traveled? Mugs, postcards, and posters aren't necessarily going to keep you warm at night, but a journal or personal blog detailing the most important memories might do that for a fraction of the price. In fact, a travel blog may even be one of a few surprisingly lazy ways to make real money online, and if it becomes popular enough, you could find yourself in the lane of an influencer with a video blog on TikTok or Instagram. Become a micro-influencer with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, and you could earn enough to make it worth your while.

There are exceptions to every rule, and really old postcards might actually be worth a ton of money depending on their condition and what's in the picture. However, you'll need to be something of an aficionado with knowledge of the market, and a willingness to preserve the right postcard for a long enough period of time to see the value of it. Of course, you could just skip the postcard purchases every vacation and learn how to invest in penny stocks instead. Your odds of picking a vacation souvenir that will be worth more than what you paid for it in the future are probably just as good, but the ROI from the right penny stock could be far greater.

While there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of an opportune sale, it's important to understand the difference between gaining an advantage, and being taken advantage of. There is a psychological motivation created by sales that marketers are well aware of — one in which 20% off an item becomes a sneaky shopping mistake that will cost you. A markdown strategy is often employed by retailers to offload hard to sell or old stock items, grow overall sales, or to grow a larger consumer base. Companies like Costco base much of their bulk store business around this principle. Think about it. They sell bulk items at prices that make buying a month's worth of baked beans in one shot seem like a more affordable deal. The amount of money Americans lose to uneaten food each year is staggering, and if you're buying based on what's on sale versus what you actually need at the moment, you could be setting yourself up for a loss.

While buying something at 25% off may feel like a win to you at the time, if it's not something you actually needed, you could easily end up feeling buyers remorse. As a rule, if you can get a deal on what you actually need, take advantage of a sale. If you're buying something you don't really need just because it's on sale, take a step back.

Buying a new item and taking advantage of a built-in warranty can make a lot of sense because it can obviously save you on maintenance or replacement costs. However, a store will oftentimes try to convince you to purchase an additional in-store extended warranty for items, specifically things like electronics. While fine on the face of it, we're talking about things you should stop buying to save money, and an extended warranty is just not worth it.

First, it requires you to pay upfront for something that hasn't happened, which is a bet that something will go wrong within the allotted time of your warranty. Second, the manufacturer's warranty typically offers better terms than the extended warranties — faster repairs cheaper than an extended warranty and full replacement of items. Third, you may already have an extended warranty through the credit card you purchased the item with. Finally, if a company gives you an extended warranty on a part or product, they've done enough product research to know when that part or product tends to break down, and the warranty will likely expire before that point anyway. Instead, put that money into emergency savings.

Although sales of books fell 0.8% in 2023 from the previous year, book sales still earned $29.9 billion. While reading is fundamental, overspending on books is fundamentally wrong. Aside from taking up valuable shelf space, why buy books when you don't have to? A library card, whether physical or digital, is free and you can source books, magazines, and even digital e-books through your local library at no cost. If you must purchase a book, book subscription companies like Used Books Monthly will send you up to four used books every month for $16.99. According to the School Library Journal, the average adult hardcover book purchased by the American public in 2023 cost anywhere from $28.49 for fiction to $30.91 for non-fiction titles. If you purchased four hardcover fiction books inside a month, you would pay an average $133.96 for them. The savings here are obvious.

Of course, unless there's some sort of emotional or financial interest attached to a book, there's really no reason to keep them once you've read them. The knowledge is already in your head, and you are pretty unlikely to need to revisit it. While there are definitely antique books worth a ton of money, your beat up copy of "Twilight" doesn't qualify.

Do you spend most of your time wondering if Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts offer the best deal on coffee? You may be spending too much money at either. According to a study conducted by Drive Research, 73% of Americans consume coffee every day, with 51% of those people ordering coffee from cafes at least once a week. An average 12 ounce bag of coffee makes 17 to 24 cups of java, while a single Starbucks coffee ranges anywhere from $3.65 for typical Grande coffee up to $5.25 for a specialty drink. A medium Dunkin' coffee goes for $2.99 to as much as $5.99 for a specialty coffee. Even at the high end of a 12-ounce bag purchase at $30 for 24 cups, the true cost of a cup of coffee is $1.25, or less than half the cost of a cup of cafe coffee.

Of course, we wouldn't suggest you should never treat yourself, but if you're really invested in saving more money, start making coffee at home. When you do decide to treat yourself, here's one easy trick that can help you save money at a cafe.

According to a US Foods study of dining habits in 2024, the average American ate out 4.6 times a month, with 55% of diners preferring to dine in over 45% of diners who prefer takeout or delivery. In 2024 that equated to $191 average monthly spend, up from $166 per month in 2023. Whether for personal pleasure or a date nite, can you really justify spending $2,292 per year on restaurant meals? This is one example of how keeping a well-sticked pantry can save you money. As per the US Foods survey, a change of atmosphere and socializing are the top reasons people dine out. Again, it may be unrealistic to avoid eating out for social gatherings, but consider saving these outings to special occasions like birthdays. Based on the math, if you dined out once a month as opposed to the four times per month, that would cost you $45.52 per month, or $546.24 per year. That's savings of roughly $1,745 per year. Put that money to work in the markets for you. If you invested $1,000 in Amazon 20 years ago, here's how much you would have today.

Get comfortable with prepping meals for the week that you can store in the freezer until you need them, and looking for cheaper date-night alternatives.

If you're considering buying a brand new vehicle, you should take a moment to consider how that may impact your saving goals. Most people don't understand how quickly a vehicle's value can depreciate after you buy it or how that can affect you. There's very little you can do to limit depreciation with the exception of driving it as little as possible, keeping it protected from the elements in a garage, or ensuring you maintain the vehicle through regular check-ups. Most people don't buy vehicles to lock them away and not drive them, and regular maintenance is also another expense in addition to insurance and possible leasing arrangements. Even financing a new vehicle right now can cost you. 

These are some of the reasons why a brand new car is one of 12 things frugal people will always refuse to buy, and as someone trying to save money, you should too if you aren't in a financial position to do so. Instead, use that money as a tool that you can invest into an asset that will help you build enough wealth to make buying a new car more sensible.

Fast fashion is cheaply made garments that are purposely not built to last. They tend to be knock-offs of better designer lines made with higher quality materials which contribute to their significantly higher costs. While there are many luxury clothing brands that are actually worth the price tag, fast fashion can be three times more expensive in terms of how much wear you get out of it versus better quality clothing with higher upfront prices. This is one of the real reasons Shein is so cheap as a brand. Fast fashion is also destructive to the American manufacturing sector. U.S. labor laws favor higher wages for workers and reasonable workplace safety regulations not given to cheap foreign labor who are typically employed to make fast fashion. So avoiding fast fashion purchases not only saves you money in the long run but it's also good for the U.S. economy and the American worker.

Practically speaking, owning better quality clothes that are more expensive than fast fashion will likely result in you owning less clothes. The benefit of that is less time fussing over what to wear, which is free time you can think about what to do with the money you're saving with all our good advice.

Tis the season for New Years resolutions, and according to Statista, the number one resolution for Americans is to save more money at 21%. The second, third, and fourth place resolutions? To eat healthier, exercise more, and lose weight. The irony of these resolutions is that the next three following "saving money" can actually negate the first if you're not careful. Gym memberships tend to be what people turn to when it comes to weight management and a healthier lifestyle. You making an impulse purchase of a membership is just one of a few sneaky ways gyms trick you into spending more money. According to a survey by Myprotein, 36% of Americans who signed up for gym memberships in January 2022, 34% were no longer using the membership before the end of that year, and 27% had stopped using their memberships after just six months. According to another survey courtesy of Finder.com, that translated into $397 million in unused gym memberships in 2020.

Instead of a gym membership, consider walking or hiking out in the great outdoors through Hiking Clubs USA. Join a cheap running club through the Road Runners Club of America. Buy second hand equipment like dumbbells or resistance bands from Facebook Marketplace and work out from home. Regardless, there's more than one way to get fit, and with a little creativity, you can achieve the goal of saving money and losing weight.