Give Up These 10 Major Expenses to Save More Dollars Per Year

How can you save more dollars per year? The Price Makers will tell you how! 

With this inflation that’s been going on for quite some time now, it’s crucial to try to spend less and save more. The persistent rise in the cost of living feels relentless, impacting everything from our weekly grocery bill to the price at the gas pump. But how can you do that if the prices are skyrocketing and we all end up paying a lot for a few items at the grocery store? It can feel disheartening to see your hard-earned money not stretching as far as it used to, creating stress and financial anxiety for households everywhere.

We have good news, though: if you’ve reviewed your budget and feel that you can no longer make any cuts, you should take a closer look. Often, we become accustomed to certain recurring expenses, viewing them as non-negotiable fixtures in our financial lives. However, a detailed audit can reveal surprising areas where significant savings are possible. You could save more money a year by cutting back on some things or eliminating them entirely. It’s about making conscious choices and re-evaluating what’s a genuine necessity versus a costly convenience. Which expenses are we talking about? Let’s begin by tackling the number one costly expense that many households still haven’t addressed.

1. Cable bill

One thing is clear: if you haven’t “cut the cord” yet, you might want to do it as soon as possible. Traditional cable packages are notorious for their high costs, often bundled with channels you never watch, plus equipment rental fees and other surprise charges that inflate your monthly bill. According to various estimations, households pay around $996 per year for TV cable, a figure that often creeps up year after year with little warning. You can save more money by simply giving up this pricey service. The freedom of a la carte entertainment is not only cheaper but also puts you in complete control of what you pay for. With so many free and reasonably priced choices for cable and satellite TV, you will never get bored! Among the best streaming services that we truly recommend are Comet, Hoopla, Tubi, Sling Freestream, and Popcornflix. These ad-supported platforms offer thousands of movies and TV shows at no cost. Pick your favorite and save more money per year!

2. Mobile subscriptions

If you want to save more money throughout the year, another thing you should give up on, or at least rethink, is your mobile subscription. Your cell phone is a necessity, but an overpriced plan is not. Many of us are on “unlimited” data plans but use Wi-Fi at home and work, meaning we barely touch the data we’re paying a premium for. According to a recent statistic, Americans spend an average of $1,284 per year on phone services. Sheesh, that’s quite a lot of money that could be redirected toward savings or paying down debt!

Take an hour to do a little research. Check out the most recent choices and your current data use to determine whether you may benefit from a family savings plan or a lesser data plan. Log into your provider’s portal and look at your actual data consumption over the last few months; you might be surprised at how little you actually use. If you’ve been a customer for a long time or are thinking about switching providers, you might be able to bargain for a lower price on your plan. Don’t be afraid to call customer service and mention a competitor’s offer; your loyalty can be a powerful negotiating tool. Furthermore, if you want to save more for other things that matter to you and if you aren’t using your phone that much get a prepaid plan or consider canceling your mobile service. Low-cost carriers (known as MVNOs) like Mint Mobile or Visible use the same networks as major carriers but for a fraction of the price.

3. Gym members

You don’t have to stop working out because you want to save money if you’re dedicated to your fitness and find that your gym membership is beneficial. For many, the gym is a vital part of their routine and mental health. However, many enthusiastic individuals sign contracts, especially around the New Year, only to leave after a few months. This is a common tale of good intentions leading to a financial drain. Even if you don’t utilize the gym, your monthly payments may still be required per the terms of your membership contract, locking you into a year of wasted money.

Consider the full cost. A Peloton app subscription, for example, costs around $156 per year (not including taxes, the bike, or the treadmill). Some gym memberships may go into the hundreds of dollars per year, especially when you factor in initiation fees, annual “maintenance” fees, and charges for specialty classes. Even virtual workout courses can be costly. Take the time necessary to determine whether these costs align with your goals and fit within your budget. Be honest with yourself about how often you truly go and whether you’re getting your money’s worth.

If you decide it’s too expensive to keep the gym subscription because you want to save more money, but you also want to exercise, you can do it on your own for free. The world is your gym! Try running or a strength-training routine in the comfort of your own home using bodyweight exercises. There are countless free, high-quality workout videos on YouTube for yoga, HIIT, dance cardio, and more. Check out this set of six dumbbells ranging in weight from 3 to 8 lb., which costs only $47.65 on Amazon. It may seem like a big investment, but in the long run, you will definitely save more money than paying for a gym subscription! That single purchase is less than what many people pay for one month at a fancy gym.

4. Food takeout

Once in a while, it’s nice to allow yourself to indulge in the food that you love. There’s no denying the convenience of having a delicious meal delivered to your door after a long day. But if you want to save more money, it might be time to learn how to do them at home and avoid ordering food. The true cost of takeout isn’t just the price of the food; it’s the delivery fees, service charges, and driver tips that can add 30-40% to your bill. A $20 order can easily become $28. Do that a few times a week, and you’re spending hundreds of dollars extra per month. Plus, cooking at home is also much cheaper, and you will have the guarantee that it is also fresh and tasty! You control the ingredients, the portion sizes, and the hygiene. If dining out is still something you want to do, consider cutting back on how often you go and using credit cards that provide rewards for dining out. You can also implement strategies like eating out for lunch instead of dinner, looking for happy hour specials, or skipping the expensive sodas and alcoholic beverages in favor of water.

5. Movie tickets

Having fun costs a lot of money nowadays! It’s not just the tickets; it’s the entire experience that’s become a major expense. Concert tickets, plane tickets, and theater tickets are super expensive now. The cost of a single movie ticket can be $15 or more in major cities, and that’s before you even think about the concession stand, where a popcorn and soda combo can cost more than the ticket itself. Can you imagine that we used to pay $1.65 per movie ticket in 1971? Wow, what a time to be alive! A family of four could easily spend over $100 for a single trip to the movies today.

Instead of going to the cinema, you can make your cinema at home. For a fraction of the cost of one night out, you can create a superior viewing experience. Gather some friends, bring some popcorn (a bag of kernels costs a couple of dollars and makes a huge amount), and rent some DVDs or a digital movie. Besides being very fun, it will also be less expensive. You can pause for bathroom breaks without missing a scene! Ask others to split the costs or rent the movies by taking turns, creating a rotating movie night club that fosters community and saves everyone money.

6. Unnecessary streaming services

Have you ever thought about how much you spend on random subscriptions per year? In the golden age of streaming, it’s easy to sign up for a service to watch one specific show and then forget to cancel. This “subscription creep” can quietly drain your bank account. You’re paying about $400 a year on average if you have an ad-free basic subscription to HBO Max, Netflix, SkyShowtime, or Spotify. And that’s a conservative estimate; many people subscribe to five or more services, pushing that annual cost closer to $1,000.

It’s time for a subscription audit. Purge your subscriptions by canceling all of your recurring ones, then adding back just the ones you miss after a few weeks. A more practical approach is to go through your credit card and bank statements, list every single recurring charge, and ask yourself, “When was the last time I used this?” and “Is it providing value equivalent to its cost?” Apps and memberships to online retailers account for a large portion of the costs that sneak up on us. Think about premium app features, cloud storage, and even those “free trial” sign-ups you forgot about.

These, let’s call them, “little guilty pleasures” eat away a lot of money per month, so if you want to save more for other stuff, consider canceling some of the subscriptions you don’t even use that often. A great strategy is “subscription cycling.” Instead of paying for five services every month, subscribe to one, binge-watch what you want to see, then cancel and move on to the next one the following month. This keeps your entertainment fresh and your costs low.

7. Car payment

Nowadays, owning a car is often considered a luxury. The expense goes far beyond the monthly payment. You have to factor in insurance, gas, regular maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations, unexpected repairs, and depreciation. While many people need to commute to work, opting for public transportation instead of driving every day can be a more practical solution. Calculate the total cost of your commute: gas, parking, and vehicle wear and tear. Compare that to the cost of a monthly transit pass, which is often significantly cheaper and more predictable. While some of you must use the car and the gas price is pretty expensive, you can do a lot of things to cut the expense, and one of them is by using a gas app that allows you to know on which days the gas is cheaper. You can also save fuel by ensuring your tires are properly inflated and by driving smoothly without rapid acceleration or braking.

If you don’t drive frequently, the math might be even more compelling. You may be able to save money by using a ride-sharing service, such as Uber, depending on how frequently you drive. For the person who only drives a few times a month, paying for individual rides can be much cheaper than the fixed costs of car ownership. Gas, insurance, and other extra expenses might be reduced as well. Consider if your household can go from two cars down to one, or explore options like carpooling with a coworker to split the costs.

8. Google Drive extra storage

Another unnecessary expense you can easily get rid of if you want to save more money is the extra storage from Google Drive or iCloud. It often starts with a notification that your free 15GB is almost full, prompting a quick and seemingly cheap upgrade. This particular benefit indeed costs just a buck or two per month, but in the long run, every single dollar counts! That $1.99 a month is nearly $24 a year, and the price tiers go up from there. This is money you could be saving or investing instead.

Before you pay, do a digital clean-up. If you have any data storage subscriptions, check them out to see if you truly need all the things you’re carefully saving. Your storage is likely filled with blurry photos, duplicate files, years of old email attachments, and videos you’ll never watch again. Take 30 minutes to sort through your largest files, delete what you don’t need, and move important but rarely accessed files to an external hard drive. A one-time purchase of an external drive can provide massive amounts of storage for years to come, eliminating a recurring monthly fee.

9. Cigarettes

Let’s face it: if you are a hardcore smoker, it’s a bit hard to give up cigarettes just like that. The addiction is powerful, but so is the financial drain. But if you want to save more money, you kind of have to. A pack-a-day habit can cost over $3,000 a year, depending on where you live. That’s enough for a substantial vacation, a significant boost to your emergency fund, or a major debt payment. You’re not just losing money from your monthly budget if you smoke or vape. The financial impact runs much deeper. According to studies, smokers often make less money at work than nonsmokers do, and they also frequently pay more for life insurance, long-term care insurance, and health insurance. These increased premiums can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to your annual expenses.

The health costs are also a major financial risk, with higher chances of developing chronic illnesses that lead to expensive medical treatments down the line. Quitting is one of the most powerful financial decisions you can make. So, think about it like this: save more and also be healthy! Every dollar you don’t spend on cigarettes is a dollar you’re investing in both your financial future and your physical well-being. The benefits are twofold and compound over time.

10. Expensive seasonal gifts

We bet you forgot to include gifts on the expenses list, right? It’s an easy category to overlook because it’s not a consistent monthly bill, but it can wreak havoc on your budget. However, even if most of them are only seasonal, they add up pretty much to your budget. The pressure during holidays, birthdays, and other celebrations can lead to overspending. Perhaps you have multiple weddings to attend in one summer or a large family to buy gifts for during the winter holidays. This social pressure can make us feel obligated to spend more than we can afford.

If you want to save more money and give a thoughtful gift, consider practical and creative options. Opt for DIY gifts like a batch of homemade cookies, a knitted scarf, or a custom-made photo album. You could also gift your time or skills, such as offering a night of babysitting to new parents or helping a friend with a home improvement project. These gifts are often more meaningful than anything store-bought. If you must buy, gift them something they need. Making a list with everyone you have to buy gifts for will help you decide upon a budget you need to prepare and see what adjustments you can make along the way. Plan ahead by setting a spending limit per person and start a “gifting fund” by setting aside a small amount each month. This way, you avoid the financial shock when the occasions arrive.

If you want to save more money you must also be a wise shopper, and that means knowing where the best deals are! This article is definitely for you: 11 Costco Items That Make Even Canadians Cross the Border.