The other day I happened across a pair of Lululemon shorts on Facebook marketplace. They were beautiful, they were my size, and they were a deal: only $35! (If $35 sounds expensive for used shorts, you haven’t been indoctrinated by Lululemon yet.) I wanted to buy them. I left the tab open for a while, then I closed it. Shorts were not on my shopping list. And I didn’t have money earmarked for clothing, because I knew, from looking in my closet, that I didn’t currently need more clothing.

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A few years back, I started trying to teach myself about personal finance. I realized finances are something almost everyone in this world has to deal with. Yet we often just scrape by, never proactively learning about it. Money comes in, money goes out. Companies on all sides try to get us to BUY, BUY, BUY! claiming it will make us happy and attractive, which we all know it doesn’t.

I started reading books. Listening to podcasts.

I doggedly tracked every cent I spent and earned in a spreadsheet. I made iterative improvements to my system each month, while keeping it simple enough that it wasn’t too daunting to fill out.

I used to save money so I could buy things. Gradually, I started to enjoy not buying things, and finding clever ways to spend less. I tried investing a bit of money in the stock market; something I’d often thought would be interesting, but didn’t consider within my reach. I discovered it was within my reach, and much less daunting than it had seemed from the outside. I made and lost little bits of money, and learned.

This post features my current favourite ways to avoid spending money. You’ve probably run across some of these tips already (and maybe you even use them), but there’s at least one very useful one that I have never seen elsewhere.

MY FAVOURITE WAYS TO AVOID SPENDING MONEY

Buy Top Quality, Used Items

I’ve noticed that good quality things last longer than cheap ones. Often, by a large margin: double, triple, or even quadruple the life span before needing to be replaced. I’ve also noticed that, at least with some types of items — tools, electronics, clothing, cookware, furniture, kitchen appliances, books — it’s pretty easy to find good quality, secondhand options for well below the cost of purchasing a low-quality new one. Enter my brother’s recent article on Dorking. Along with being a good financial bargain, and getting good quality items, buying used is a more sustainable option, majorly reducing the amount of waste and resources used.

Avoid Browsing

Browsing can be fun. Especially browsing great sales. But, mostly, I’ve noticed that it feels like a waste of time afterwards, and often a waste of money, too. Being somewhat of a completionist, I find the easiest time to stop looking through a sale, with no particular target that I actually need, is right at the start. Yes, I might miss a cool great deal, but think of all the time I will save, and decisions I won’t have to make.

Always Keep a Shopping List

I’ve found that keeping a running shopping list on the back page of my pocket notebook, where I put down the things I actually need, is an effective way to combat impulse spending, and prevent unnecessary purchases. I find this especially helpful when I’m out doing errands with other people. It means I can save both time and money: if they’re going into a store and there’s nothing I need in there, I can simply wait in the car and read — eliminating all temptation of purchasing things I don’t need, or finding “good deals” that I don’t want to pass up.

Keep a Bare-bones Phone Plan

This one is hard. But, in my opinion, so worthwhile. I’ve already expounded the benefits of having a boring and affordable relation with your smartphone at some length, but I think it deserves reiterating: if you’re willing to forgo Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, you can save a whole lot of money every month on your phone plan! And the hidden bonus is you’ll also save a lot of time, attention, and focus. These cheap, low data, pay-as-you-go plans are usually buried deep down on every cellphone provider website, far below the flashy ads for Unlimited Everything. Because they really aren’t keen on you getting one. They don’t make the phone providers enough money. And don’t even get me started on the salespeople at those slick little stores and kiosks. Yikes. Avoid at all cost. This is the plan I’m currently on: Public Mobile $15/month. I believe it works in all of Canada, and I think T-Mobile has something comparable in the United States. After the loyalty rewards and various bonus points get added, it’s costing me a grand total of $7.84 CAD per month*.

*Unfortunately, due to recent changes in their loyalty program, this incredible deal is no-longer available, and I'm now paying a more ghastly $24.64 per month for my phone plan. If you know of a more affordable Canadian plan, let me know!

BYO Snacks

One of my favourite things to do is go out for a stroll in the fresh air, and stop somewhere along the way to get myself a coffee, tea, or small snack. I find it a good way to decompress between action cycles; get some new impressions, fresh air, and exercise; and treat myself to a little something. I still do this often, but I’ve also figured out a workable alternative: go out for the same nice afternoon or evening stroll, but bring my own cup of tea or snack with me. This gets the same fun vibes, for a fraction the cost. Also, I try to separate eating out socially from the function of food. Restaurants can be a great way to hang out and visit, but aren’t always the best value for sustenance nutrition. If this is what I’m after, I like to sus out the best options at grocery store delis. This can be a very affordable way to get a yummy, nutritious, ready-to-eat meal or snack without paying for the atmosphere and service of a restaurant.

Find Your Niche Outlets

For ethical reasons, I avoid buying things from Walmart and Amazon. I’ve noticed there are alternative outlets with great prices on certain types of things. Ebay, I find, is good for very small electronics purchases such as batteries, cables, and USB chargers. Best Buy (at least in Canada) tends to be good for larger electronics purchases, if it’s something you need to get new (gasp) such as a hard drive, computer, external monitor, or phone. Battdepot.ca is the best source I’ve found for laptop batteries. There are likely local brick and mortar stores in your town to which this same principle applies. In Canada, Stylo.ca is great for stationery supplies and pen ink. For the US version of the same, I like Jetpens.com.

Delay, Delay, Okay!

Even though it can seem counterintuitive, in a lot of cases, putting off purchasing something can be a financially advantageous strategy. Often it means you’ll find it at a better price — hopefully at a thrift store or garage sale — it will have dropped in price, or you’ll decide you don’t actually need it after all. If it’s something like running shoes, which are unlikely to reduce in price, and is one of the only items I have a policy of not purchasing used, I will at least have gotten an extra month or two of use out of my old ones in the meantime, therefor reducing my annual spend on that item by a non-trivial amount. I also try to remind myself: even if something is a “good deal” when I buy it, I’m still unlikely to get my money out reselling it later.

Track & Trace

This one is a bit like work. Once you’ve got a good system in place, though, it’s not so bad. Keeping track of your expenses and earnings is a good way to feel in control of what you choose to spend, and gives you the tools and knowledge to reduce spending where doable. I use a spreadsheet. Pick a system that works for you, and try to make it simple enough, especially at the start, that you can stick with it.

Nix Those Bank Fees!

One of the many things I did after reading Ramit Sethi’s off-puttingly titled, but in fact quite excellent book, was arranging that I don’t pay a single cent in monthly bank fees, despite having a premium, full-fledged, all-inclusive account, and a Visa Infinite credit card. It turns out that many banks will waive your monthly fees if you keep a certain amount in your account. They will even put a lock on that amount if you’d like, so you don’t accidentally spend it, and thus incur service fees. I phoned my bank, asked them about this, and got it set up. This provides a triple benefit: 1) it reduces the monthly fees on my account to zero, 2) it avoids any accidental overdraft charges, and 3) the amount that I have locked in the bottom of my account doubles as my emergency fund, which I can have them release for me with a phone call, if I really need it.

Keep a Positive Balance on your Credit Card

This is not something your credit card company will advertise, and not something I’ve ever read about or heard suggested, even by the inimitable Ramit Sethi, but one of the best financial discoveries I’ve ever made is the tactic of keeping a positive account balance on my credit card. This is as simple as making a random, un-requested payment or two, and means you can get all the benefits of a full-fledged credit card without ever having to pay a single cent of interest! And, believe me, I keep track.

Technically, you can use your credit card without getting charged interest by paying your bill off in full, on time, each month, but I prefer a slightly different approach which adds an extra buffer of reliability, accountability, and also protects from any funny business my credit card company might come up with regarding how it calculates billing cycles and interest rates. My strategy is: 1) preemptively transfer money to my card at the beginning of the month to cover any recurring bills that I know will be drawn out of it, 2) always keep a modest positive buffer on my card, and 3) whenever I make a purchase on it, transfer over the exact amount to cover it right away (or that night). This means I have to come up with the actual money for whatever I’m buying without putting it off into the future, it’s easy to avoid having a gnarly big bill at the end of the month, and I still get to gain the benefits that possession of a credit card offers (buying things online, renting cars, extra warranty coverage, booking flights, and receiving bonus points)* without having to pay any credit card interest or credit card debt.

This approach kind of removes the credit from the credit card, and just treats it as a useful payment conduit rather than a payment source which it never really was. We just sometimes get tricked into thinking it is. As an added precaution, I proactively request a low limit whenever I get a new card, even if they try to give me a high one, and routinely decline their offers to increase it.

* = because of the poor ethics of credit card companies, and the fact that they earn a 3% fee off the backs of small independent businesses when we pay with our credit cards, I still often avoid using my credit card to pay for things.

Spin Them Pedals

I’ve often thought it’d be fun to own a car, but so far, I haven’t needed to. I’m grateful for this, and have been trying to keep it that way. Cars are expensive. Insurance, gas, repairs. Even though it’s more work, annoying at times, and isn’t an option for everyone, riding a bike everywhere is terrific! I’ve gradually become a total convert, and highly recommend it. Aside from being inexpensive, it’s also great for the health, good for the environment, and a lot of fun.

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Even that outrageously priced Autodidacts Patron of the Arts membership :)

Conclusion

Putting these tactics to use can save you some dollars! I guarantee it. Give it a go, and let us know which are your favourites, and if you’ve got any tips that I’ve missed!

When to Break the Rules

Sometimes it’s important not to put pecuniary priorities first. A few times when I do this are:

• Following the creative scent. I’ve decided that if I’m hot on the scent of some creative action cycle, and there’s a piece of gear, or supplies I need for the project, that seems like it will enable the creative spark to spread, it’s worth going ahead and taking the plunge on a purchase that might not otherwise pass the prudence test. [An example of this was in the summer of 2023. I was vaguely on the lookout for a new, more capable acoustic guitar. But I hadn’t really planned to purchase one just yet. I was in the looking and learning phase. However, my band had a festival booking coming up, which I wanted to give my all, and I didn’t feel my current instrument was up to the level of the booking. On a trip to Vancouver, I spotted a used Martin acoustic guitar that seriously struck my fancy. It was pretty expensive. I didn’t have the money set aside for it, but I did have the money. From my perspective, the creative spark lead in the direction of having that instrument. I could have ignored it, telling myself it wasn’t in my budget. I considered the situation for some time, made sure to exit the vortex of the store and sales people while I thought about it, and decided to go ahead and get the guitar. I’m glad I made that decision.]
• When I want to just get on with it. Sometimes it’s not worth the time of hassling around trying to get a good deal on something. Sometimes the right thing to do is get what you need, and move on. Bargain hunting can be fun, but it can also take up a lot of time. Sometimes there are more important things to use that time on.
• When it’s a matter of safety or security. Replacing your back-up hard drive, for instance. (Let's not go into that story...) Or, not skimping and buying cheap no-name brand 1TB SD cards for a high-pressure film project. (Let's not go into that story either! But stay tuned for an article on advanced data recovery.)

FURTHER READING

Here are my six favourite blogs and books on the topic:

⇒ Mr. Money Mustache

⇒ Get Rich Slowly

⇒ I Will Teach You to be Rich

⇒ The Year of Less

⇒ Your Money or Your Life

⇒ The Millionaire Next Door