If there’s anything that 2020 has taught us, it’s that you never know when you’ll need to dig into your savings. As someone who graduated from university in 2019, less than a year before 2020 hit, I didn’t have a lot of savings built up since I’d only recently joined the professional workforce.
My fulltime job made decent money, but with layoffs happening seemingly every day, it was hard to feel completely comfortable. I made some drastic changes to my spending habits in order to save as much money as possible in case I were to lose my job.
Of course, these new habits will help me save extra money even when there isn’t a global pandemic. And I plan to continue with these into the rest of my life to some extent.
I’m so excited to share with you the 4 things I stopped spending money on last year!
Cosmetics
I love makeup and doing colorful makeup looks. But with the transition to working from home, I decided I would stop wearing makeup for the most part. I will wear makeup in the future when I’m not always in my home, but taking a break has helped me to save money.
Using makeup typically leads to me purchasing more makeup, whether it be re-buying my favorite products or trying out new products. I decided that I didn’t need this in my life for at least the next year, and I was right. If I want to put makeup on, I can use what I already own.
The one caveat I have for this, is that I do still buy skincare occasionally. I think selfcare is important, and I want to continue taking care of myself and my skin. I have mostly stuck with the same skincare routine, instead of experimenting with new products though. I find that it is better to use the same routine for a while to really see the benefits anyway.
Nail Polish
I have always been someone who does my own nails at home, which I used as an excuse to be constantly buying more and more nail polish. Honestly, I own way more than I need already, and I don’t need to buy more.
I love the feeling I get when I buy a new color of nail polish, but I’ve been working on finding that joy through other activities besides shopping.
Now I have been “shopping” from my personal nail polish collection whenever I want to paint my nails, so I haven’t bought any new polishes in many months! With a bottle of nail polish usually being around $10 each, it really adds up!
Ordering Food
To be honest, eating out and ordering food for delivery costs a lot more than it would take to just make the food myself at home. This makes sense, as restaurants need to make money and you’re paying for that convenience.
2020 has forced me to cook for myself at home pretty much 100% of the time anyway. Now I rarely eat food that I didn’t prepare for myself. And even though I do spend a bit more every time I buy groceries, that increase isn’t even close to the amount of money I am saving by not eating out.
I’ve also had a lot of fun “date nights” with my partner where we’ve taken the time to cook a new recipe together. Those experiences are so valuable to me and I know I’ll look back on those memories fondly in the future.
Also, I have found that I tend to eat a bit healthier now that I’m the one cooking my meals.
Clothes
I’ll admit that sometimes when I’m bored or stuck or when I feel like my life isn’t as exciting as I want it to be, I will do some online shopping for clothes. I like the idea of being fashionable even though I rarely dress fashionably pretty much ever. I tend to dress comfortably in the same types of outfits over and over.
But I like to add clothing pieces to my online shopping carts, and sometimes I’ll actually buy them. And we all know that when you place an order online, you never just buy one article of clothing. It always ends up being hundreds of dollars of clothing.
I’ve been actively stopping myself from doing this recently and it has helped me save a ton of money. And I haven’t even missed having new clothes. I don’t need them.
Not to mention that I’m able to use my time to do other things that bring me joy instead.
I know that everyone will have their own spending habits, but I hope that hearing about mine can inspire you to reflect on the ways you spend your money that maybe aren’t necessary, or that aren’t benefitting you in the long run.
I’ve been able to save a lot of money with these small changes throughout the last year, and I know that I want to continue with these new habits.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge that I am coming from a place of financial privilege to be able to spend money on the above things in the first place. The less money you have, the harder it is to have savings because your money is being used on essentials. However, I hope this serves as inspiration to those who do make unnecessary purchases, like myself, to reflect and make changes. Instead of spending money on unnecessary things, there is a lot of good you can do for the world with your money instead.
Every time I think about ordering some new clothes (especially dresses), I ask myself when will I actually get to wear them out. It makes me pause and think if I shouldhold off til later.
That’s such a good tip! Thank you for sharing!