How To Stop Spending Money: 12 Best Tips To Avoid Overspending

Last Updated November 8, 2023 by Davina Kelly

Are you trying to stop spending money on unnecessary things? The best way is to resist temptation as much as possible and understand your spending habits.

It can seem impossible at the beginning, I know, I’ve been there. But once you implement these tips you will know what your triggers are and be able to stop overspending.

This is the approach I took to stop spending money on non-essential things, increase my savings and become a savvy spender.

This post is all about how to stop spending money.

How To Stop Spending Money

1. Create a Budget

Having a budget is a great tool for your finances. A budget is essentially a plan, it allows you to plan how to spend your money.

Your budget will give your money direction, this way when you get paid you will know exactly where your money needs to go.

To help you stop spending money you want to include all of your bills and essential expenses in your budget. You can also include any goals you are working towards like paying off debt.

Once you have paid for all of these expenses you will not need to spend any more money as all of your essential needs will be taken care of.

This can be a great tool to help guide you with your spending and give you some level of control.

2. Resist Temptation

A huge part of the reason we all spend money is temptation, we are constantly being sold to. Whether it be adverts on the TV, adverts on social media, or influencers temptation is everywhere!

An easy way to avoid this is to limit temptation. You can unfollow influencers, reduce social media use, and unsubscribe from any retailer’s emails.

You probably get hundreds of these emails every day telling you about sales and new product releases. If you unsubscribe from the emails and unfollow influencers you will no longer be tempted by them.

3. Have No Spend Days

Want to know an easy way to not spend money? Have a no-spend day. No-spend days are where you go for several days without spending money on nonessential items.

For example, you wouldn’t be allowed to spend money on coffee or takeaways. This can have many benefits such as saving more money. The less money you spend the more money you can save.

It can also help you to identify bad spending habits and realise that you don’t need to spend money on the things you once did.

It is also great at instilling discipline as it will force you to stop spending and this may continue long term.

If you took part in the no-spend challenge with friends and family this could help make it fun and it will keep you accountable.

4. Audit Your Finances

Auditing your finances is very important. It will allow you to understand the state of your finances, reveal your spending habits, and show you where you need to improve.

To do this you can log into your bank online and review your bank statements. I recommend looking at 3 – 6 months of statements to get a good picture.

You want to go through your statements with a fine tooth comb. Pay attention to where you are spending the most money and try to understand why.

For example, are you spending a lot of money on takeaways? If so, why? Is it because it is more convenient for you? If that is the case you can think of ways to combat this.

You could search on Pinterest for recipe ideas that are quick to make. Then you could go grocery shopping for the ingredients and plan your meals based on these recipes.

If you do this for all areas of your spending you will be able to see where you can cut back and save more money.

5. Be Clear on Wants vs. Needs

Identifying your wants and needs is important for your overall finances and it can help you to stop spending money.

Your needs are the things you need to spend money on to survive, such as.

Rent/Mortgage
Utilities
Insurance
Medical
Groceries

Your wants are the things you spend money on but can survive without. Such as

Netflix
Amazon Prime
Shopping
Eating out

Before you commit to spending your money, ask yourself is this something I need? Or is it something I want?

Once you are clear on the difference you will know what you need to prioritise spending money on.

6. Wait Before You Buy

There have probably been so many times where you have seen an ad pop up for a dress that you have been eyeing.

You see it is on sale and you immediately want to buy it, card details at the ready. Trust me I have been there lol

If you take a second to think before making the purchase you will probably realise that it is an impulse buy. Waiting before committing to make a purchase can save you from this.

You can leave the item in your shopping cart and think about it for at least 7 days. Ask yourself do you really need it? Do you have anything similar? How will you style it?

If after 7 days you have answered all of these questions and can’t stop thinking about it then you will know it is not an impulse buy. I have done this myself and most of the time I forget about the item which saves me money.

7. Create a Finance Routine

When you are trying to stop spending money having a finance routine is a good way to view your progress and keep you accountable.

During your finance routine, you will do the following things.

Update your budget with your actual numbers
Reflect on your performance
Update your budget for next month

Let’s break it down.

Update Your Budget With Your Actual Numbers

The most important part of having a budget is making sure it is working. To do this you need to update it. Once a month or every week you should update your budget with your actual numbers to see how you performed against your plan.

You can download your bank statement and input how much money you received and how much you spent in each category.

Reflect On Your Performance

Reflecting on your budget is the most important part as this is where you will have time to think about your progress.

Ask yourself questions like did I spend in the way I planned? Am I happy with my performance? How can I do better next time?

You don’t need to be hard on yourself, the point of this is to see where you can make improvements. If you are happy with your progress that is great, just keep going.

If not, be honest about what you need to improve and include it in your budget for next month.

For example, if you gave into temptation and went shopping you may decide to take part in a no-spend challenge next month.

Update Your Budget For Next Month

When you update your budget for the next month you want to include any changes you have made. For example, if you had a personal allowance but have decided to stop spending money you may want to put that money in your savings account.

It is important to keep your budget agile and update it regularly. This is important as you can create a budget plan for a year, but things could change and you want to be able to adapt to those changes.

For example, your rent could increase or you could get a pay rise. If you keep your budget up to date you can include these changes in your budget for the rest of the year.

To make the process more enjoyable you could get comfortable, have your favourite drink and listen to your favourite music.

8. Declutter

Decluttering may not seem like it can help you to stop spending, but in my experience, it has helped. This is because sometimes you have more than you think you do.

I’m sure I am not the only one who has gone shopping and bought clothes I intended to wear and those items are still sitting in my wardrobe with the tags. Or you have bought a white shirt not realising you already have one! Lol

When you declutter you will have a chance to look through all of the items you have, which may make you realise that you don’t need to buy as many things.

You can start with your wardrobe, go through each item and make some piles. One pile can be for clothes you want to keep, the other for items you no longer want but are either new or in good condition. The last pile can be for trash or donation.

For the items you want to keep I recommend taking inventory of what you have, this way if you are tempted to buy something you can check to see if you already have something similar.

The pile of clothes that are new or in good condition can be resold on eBay or Vinted. You can use the additional cash to put towards paying off debt or saving. I have a post going into more detail about selling clothes on eBay. You can read it here.

9. Spend With Intention

If you do spend money on nonessential items you should do it with intention.

To do this you could create a sinking fund. For example, if you are into tech and want to purchase a new piece of equipment you could create a sinking fund for it.

You could pay into it regularly and when you reach your saving goal you can spend the money guilt-free. This way you know it isn’t an impulse buy and you will have planned for it.

I also recommend shopping within a budget, this way you will be forced to exercise control as you are shopping within a limit. You should use a separate bank card for this.

10. Set Goals For Your Money

Setting goals for your finances is very important. This will give you something to work towards. If you are trying to stop spending money, having a goal will encourage you to stay focused as spending can deter you from that goal.

Your goal can be simple. For example, it could be to save a certain amount of money or pay off debt. But the goal needs to be specific, timely, and measurable.

For example, if your goal is to pay off debt that is too vague. A better goal would be to pay off $5k debt in 12 months. This goal is now specific and timely. To make it measurable you can include the monthly repayments in your budget plan.

11. Utilise Cash

I know using cash is becoming a thing of the past, but it can be very helpful when you are trying to stop spending money.

When you use cash you have a certain amount of money in your hand and once it is finished you have to stop spending.

A great way to do this is by using the cash envelopes method. This is where you set cash aside in envelopes for your budget categories instead of using cards.

I wouldn’t recommend this method for all of your budget categories as it is far more efficient to have your bills set up on auto pay and to use a card for your essential expenses.

But you could use this method for your non-essential expenses as this will restrain your spending.

12. Cut Back On Spending

When you are trying to stop spending money it is a good idea to review your outgoings and find ways to cut back.

Your fixed costs like rent, utilities and medical are fixed for the most part. But your non-essential expenses like subscriptions or services like the internet can be stopped or negotiated.

If you audited your finances as I recommended above, you will be aware of all of the subscriptions you have.

I recommend going through all of them and cancelling the ones you don’t need. For example, if you have subscriptions to Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Disney, do you need all 3 of them? Probably not lol, I recommend cancelling the ones you use the least and keeping one.

When it comes to services like the internet you can call the service provider and try to negotiate a better price. Most companies like to retain their customers so they will probably try to give you a deal.

If that fails you could try a price comparison website to see the best prices in your area. I use this one all the time and have gotten some good deals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Do We Overspend?

As I touched on earlier, a large part of why we overspend is due to the temptation. We are constantly being sold to. The internet is very smart, when we search online our cookies leave a trail and ads will be shown to us based on what we have been looking at.

Have you ever seen an ad pop up and thought omg I was thinking about buying that? Lol, This is why.

There could also be psychological reasons for overspending. When we feel sad we turn to retail therapy and when we are celebrating we spend money to treat ourselves.

This could be in the form of online shopping or eating at your favourite restaurant. Buying something new or treating ourselves gives us a thrill it is exciting in the moment.

Most of the time these items are wants not needs. If you took a step back and thought about it before making the purchase you would probably decide against it.

If you are an emotional spender I recommend taking time to figure out what the root cause of the problem is. This will help you to work through your problems and find alternative ways to deal with them instead of spending money.

Things To Stop Spending Money On?

The best things to stop spending money on are non-essential items and wants. Things like

Eating out
Takeaways
Shopping
Daily coffee
Things you don’t need

All of the items I have listed are luxury items, these are things that you can live without. Let’s get into them a little more.

Eating Out

Eating out is a luxury, it is not something we need to do. I love eating out, whether it is on the fly or because I am craving something specific. But it is expensive.

I think you should allow yourself to do this sometimes, but it shouldn’t be something you do all the time. You can include some money in your budget to eat out once a month, but I recommend doing it within a budget.

Takeaways

Takeaways are probably what most people overspend on the most. It is too easy! With a few clicks on your phone, your favourite takeaway can be delivered right to your door.

I find that most of the time I am eating takeaways it is because I am not organised. I haven’t gone grocery shopping nor have I planned out my meals. So by the time I get hungry, I just want the easiest option.

The easiest way to avoid this is by taking a little time, one day a week to plan your meals. You can keep this simple, think of a few breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes you like to eat often and write them down.

Next, you can take inventory of the items you already have at home in your fridge, freezer, and cupboards/pantry. I recommend doing this to ensure that you don’t buy any ingredients you already have.

Once you have done this make a list of the items you need from the grocery store and go shopping. If you do this you will be prepared and you be less likely to want to order a takeaway.

Shopping

When it comes to shopping I recommend asking yourself is this something I really need? You can also wait for 7 days and if you are still thinking about the items you will know it is not an impulse buy.

Daily coffee

Coffee is part of most people’s daily lives now, it has become a ritual. The caffeine gives you a boost of energy and it tastes good.

I love Starbucks, my favourite order is a white chocolate mocha. This now costs $4.15 (If I use my own cup). If I bought this every day it would cost me $29.05, which is a lot of money for some coffee.

A good way to reduce spending money on this is to have it once or twice a week, and for the rest of the week make a homemade version. I know the homemade version won’t taste as good, but it can do the trick and save you a lot of money.

To increase the quality you could buy a good quality coffee from the supermarket and buy a milk frother on Amazon. Once you have perfected it you won’t feel like you are missing out on Starbucks.

Things You Don’t Need

Spending money on things you don’t need is too easy. With a few clicks, you could have anything you want delivered to your door thanks to companies like Amazon.

To combat this you need to recognise that these items are wants not needs, you could also opt to use cash instead of a credit card.

If you had a budgeted amount of money for non-essential items in a cash envelope it would be a lot harder to spend the money. If you wanted to buy an item from Zara for example, you would need to physically get up and go to the store to buy it.

Having to make an extra effort to spend money may stop you from making the purchase which could save you money.

How To Stop Spending Money On Food?

To stop spending money on food you need to be organised. When you are not organised you tend to want to take the easiest option and order a takeaway or go out to eat. I have gone into this in a little more detail above.

Other ways to stop spending money on food are.

Buy Food In bulk:

A great way to reduce your grocery shopping bill is to buy food in bulk. You could buy essential cupboard /pantry staples in bulk which cost less money than at the grocery store.

Items like

Rice
Potatoes
Pasta
Beans
Oats
Nuts
Canned Tuna
Baked beans

The cost upfront is more, but these items will last you a lot longer and the price per serving is cheaper.

Eat Leftovers

Eating leftovers is one of the easiest ways to save money on food. When you are cooking your meals, you could cook a little extra and have the rest for lunch or dinner the next day.

You could also batch-cook a carbohydrate and protein sources and mix and match the meals throughout the week. This is a good option if you don’t like to meal prep.

For example, you could cook 2 cups of rice, some chicken, and some salmon. Throughout the week you could heat the chicken, some rice and add a salad or some vegetables.

Final Thoughts:

Spending money is part of our everyday lives and it has become easier than ever. With little effort, we can have whatever we want delivered to our door.

To stop spending money you need to figure out what your spending habits are, put things in place to resist temptation and ask yourself a few questions before committing to making the purchase.

I hope you have found this helpful. Are you trying to stop overspending? If so, how is it going?