12 Minimalist Money-Saving Tips to Help You Change Your Mindset

1. Pay off debt

This is important. The mental health ramifications of debt are serious. It is demoralizing; you feel stressed and out of control when you don’t feel there are ways to get out of debt. Paying off debt and wiping the slate clean removes a lot of stress.

2. Pay yourself first

As soon as you get your paycheck, put the money straight into your savings account.

3. Delete your card from online shopping

This is an easy minimalist money-saving tip. Deleting your card makes it harder to buy things online. You have to get your card from your purse, and therefore you will be a little more reserved about purchases

4. Buy second hand

People think you need to spend money on quality items, but there's no reason not to get quality items that are preloved. There are always people getting rid of things. There is always a way to find quality items that are recycled. You will usually find a better deal and a better price.

5. Sell things that you don’t need

Get rid of the things that don’t add value to your life and that you don’t have a purpose for. Pass them to someone else

6. Plan free activities

Having fun can mean going to the park or the beach. There are many things you can do that are free. Look around for deals, because often you can find activities that are free or just require paying for parking or transportation.

7. Plan your meals

I talk about this a lot. Plan out what your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners will be ahead of time. This makes it much cheaper and simpler when you go to the shop. And, similarly, if you plan out meals, you are less likely to go to the store during the week. This also saves your energy levels, your gas, and your free time.

8. Cut a habit

Pick an expensive habit to cut back on, like buying coffee every morning from the shop or getting lunch from the supermarket. If you're organized and cut out small habits, you'll save a lot of money. For example, if you buy a takeout coffee every day, it will cost you $3 per day, or $15 per week.

Over the course of a year, you will spend $780 on coffee. If you have a habit like that, it's helpful to calculate how much you are spending per week and per year. It could be that you decide to go from having the coffee five days a week to maybe two days a week, on treat days

9. Don’t try to keep up the Joneses

Appreciate the things you have, your journey, and your destination. Know that you are already progressing in the areas that you want to progress in. If you try to compare yourself with other people, it's not a fair comparison.

You don’t know how they purchased the things they own, or how they run their finances. Think about how you run your life, focus on what you want, and make purchases that match your lifestyle

10. Eating at home

This means cutting back on takeout and dining out. You can make up for this by trying to replicate a favorite restaurant meal at home. This would keep your costs down and give you more time for other things. You don’t have to go out for meals in order to socialize. You can meet friends for chats or walks, instead of expensive meals.

11. Don’t go to the sales

This may seem obvious, but it is easy to get caught up in spending money when you are in a store. You may think you might need this item, or that item will be helpful in the future, or I might need one of those next summer.

This is how money gets taken from your wallet and passed on to someone else. Think about your purchases. If you go to a sale, you are more likely to buy something you don’t need.

If you have regular minimalist money management habits, you can still find items on sale, but only those you decided to purchase long in advance. Rather than going to sales, it is better to buy online or only go into the store for one item.

12. Decide on what you need rather than what you want

The final minimalist money-saving tip is to think about and appreciate what you have. Think about what you actually need to make your life happier or more functional, rather than what you want and desire, because the list of wants and desires is usually much longer, and it will be harder to keep it minimalist.

Minimalist money-saving tips

These minimalist money-saving tips can help you reduce your spending and keep to a minimalist financial budget. How do you save money in your daily life? Let us know in the comments.