We’ve all been there. You’re budgeting for the coming month, and you find yourself wondering how the financial margin in your life is shrinking away, little by little. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just pay less for everything?

Inflation and lifestyle creep can eat away at our money over time, but that doesn’t mean we need to just sit idly by and watch. There are plenty of ways to decrease your expenses.  And part of how you do that is to pay less for almost everything you plan to purchase!

11 Tips to Pay Less for Almost Everything

Here are some suggestions and techniques to adopt in your financial life to do just that. Some may have a bigger savings impact than others, but all of these tactics are worth trying in order to keep more of your hard earned dollars in your pocket!

1. Negotiate Your Bills 

Typically, we view our bills as fixed expenses. But but we have more ability to lower them than most people think. 

When it comes to bills like insurance, cable, or phone bills, you typically aren’t rewarded for your loyalty. In fact, you’re usually penalized. Your phone, cable, and insurance bills will likely go up once your introductory offer expires, and continue to rise over time. The best deals are reserved for sadly often reserved for ‘new customers’. 

That’s why it’s important to call up these companies and ask them if they have any new customer sales or promotions they can offer you, even as a current patron. You’d be surprised at how often these companies are willing to give you a discount in order to keep your business. 

The best trick is to make sure you’re talking to the right person. If you aren’t getting the answers you’re looking for, try asking for the “customer retention department.” If they refuse to cut your bill, it could be a sign that it’s time to shop around for a better rate. 

Lowering a few of your monthly bills can have a huge impact on your bottom line at the end of the year. For example, if you switched from Verizon’s basic $70 unlimited plan to a low cost phone provider (like Mint Mobile), you could save around $660 each year! Pair that with a safe driver discount from your insurance company and you could easily pay for an extra weekend excursion, or use that money to build that much-needed emergency fund. 

Read our full post: Yes, you can negotiate your bills.

2. Ask for Discounts 

Tons of people are scared to ask for discounts, but that shouldn’t be the case!

Getting into the habit of asking for discounts is a great way to advocate for yourself as a consumer, and it can be incredibly empowering. It’s like working out- the first time sucks! But the more you do it, the easier it gets. 

Of course there are some instances where asking for a discount is inappropriate, but most of the time it’s totally fine to try. Just remember that the worst thing that could happen is that they say no. On the flip side, you could walk away with a really good deal and pay less for something you need!

Plus, you’re more likely to succeed than you think. For example, almost 90% of folks who called their credit card companies and asked for a late payment fee to be waived were successful.

So remember, the possibility of getting a good deal totally outweighs the potential downsides. We’ve covered a few different techniques and best practices in our post about how to ask for discounts. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. And remember the golden rule: treat people the way you would want to be treated.

3. Take Advantage of Free Stuff 

Whoever came up with the saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” obviously hasn’t hit up their local library. Ok, you can’t get a bologna sandwich there, but free books are even better!

Another great way to save more money is to take advantage of all the free resources the world has to offer. There’s tons of free stuff to take advantage of, but most people just don’t know that it exists. 

For example, most people know that instead of buying books, they can head to their local library to snag them for free. But books are only one of the MANY cool resources that libraries have to offer. 

Most libraries offer a plethora of DVDs, video games and audiobooks in addition to regular old paperback books. Plus, some libraries even have free passes or discounts to museums, zoos and even amusement parks. Some hand out free seeds for growing vegetables or fruit in your yard!

You can also get a ton of free stuff from your local “buy nothing” group on Facebook. These are communities of people who are committed to buying less new stuff, and want to give their old belongings a new home. 

You can even get free educational courses on websites like Coursera and Udemy for real college credits or certifications! You can learn a variety of skills like computer programming, how to play an instrument, or even web design. 

If you know where to look, you can find tons of free ways to be entertained, continue to learn, and even snag a new-to-you item! 

Make sure to check out these other 11 Freebies to Take Advantage Of.

4. Buy Second Hand

It can be easy to run to Amazon every time you think of something you need. While it might be hard to beat the convenience of ‘free’ two-day shipping, there’s a way to get what you need for cheaper and help the environment while you’re at it. 

Buying some of your goods second hand is a great way to save some serious money. Local thrift shops, Facebook Marketplace, and Ebay are great places to get what you need at a steep discount. 

One thing that’s important to purchase second hand in most cases is your car. When you purchase a new car, it loses a ton of its value the moment you drive it off the lot. A five year car will typically lose 40% of its value after five years. Let someone else take that depreciation hit for you!

5. Know When to Use Cash vs. Credit 

If you know anything about How To Money, you know that we HATE fees. That’s why it’s so important to know when to use cash, and when to use cards.

Some merchants charge you an extra fee just for paying with a credit card. This is because they have to pay fees to credit card companies for every single transaction. So of course, they pass this along to their customers. At 3-5%, these fees can easily add up over time, so be sure to check for additional fees for using plastic before handing over your card. 

Other times, when there are no fees for using a card, it’s a good idea to use a credit card to pay so that you can cash in on credit card rewards or cash back. Check out our “Super Chill Credit Card Strategy to learn how you can maximize credit card benefits in your life while avoiding the downsides. 

Also, sometimes local retailers or small businesses will offer you a discount for paying cash. It’s worth asking!

Related: 12 Most Common Fees and How to Avoid Them

6. Do Your Research 

Another great way to pay less for your goods is by shopping around to make sure you’re getting the best price. While this is difficult to do if you’re shopping in person, although it’s much easier given the supercomputer you lug around in your pocket, it’s incredibly easy to do from home. As if you needed another reason to love online shopping!

Before making a purchase, do some quick research to make sure you’re getting the best price. If you’re looking for an item from a specific website, this can look like a quick search to see if they’re likely to have upcoming sales, or using Honey to run coupon codes for you. 

If you’re looking for a specific item, but aren’t married to any particular brand, try searching “best budget _____” for whatever you’re looking for. You can usually find articles where people compare different items from multiple companies, and see how they stack up. Remember that spending more money doesn’t always mean you’re walking away with a better quality item. 

7. Use Deal Websites 

This next tip is only for those with serious willpower…

You can save a ton of money using deal websites like Slickdeals or DealNews. These sites are totally legit and can help you pay less for items you’re in the market for at a steep discount. 

Remember though, these will only save you money if you stick to purchasing what you needed in the first place. It can be easy to browse these sites and wind up with tens of items in your shopping cart, so it’s probably best to only head to these sites when you already know you want to make a purchase. 

8. Wait for a Sale

This next tip is a trick I use every year around the holidays! Instead of pouncing on an item the second you realize you want it, why not try waiting for a sale?

Online retailers often have sales every couple of days, so if there isn’t one currently going on, it’s probably worth checking back over the course of a week or two to see if you can get a discount. 

Signing up for emails with a company you want to purchase from can be a great way to let them do some of the work for you. The company will likely shoot you an email once a new sale or promotion begins, meaning you won’t have to check back on the website every day. Sometimes, they’ll even send you a discount just for leaving an item in your cart and not completing the purchase!

Just make sure to unsubscribe after completing your purchase to ensure you won’t be tempted to shop in the future.

It’s also easier to predict certain sales based on historical data. For instance, you’ll get a better deal on a TV when you buy around Black Friday or before the Super Bowl. Let the calendar be your friend, helping you save money!

9. Perform a Subscription Audit

You’ve likely heard that Netflix is cracking down on password sharing. It’s probably time to stop using your ex-girlfriend’s parent’s account anyway…

Even though it may seem like having a subscription to all the streaming services is a non-negotiable expense in many of our lives, we might fare better without them. In fact, the average amount of money spent on subscriptions in 2022 was $219 each month! 😬

That’s why it’s so important to perform a subscription audit. You could be paying for services you aren’t even using each month! Look through your credit card and bank statements, and write down all of your subscriptions. Then, go ahead and cancel anything you aren’t getting enough value out of. Remember, you can always resubscribe if you miss them!

Subscriptions aren’t always bad. In fact, if you pay $10 per month for Netflix, that’s a lot cheaper than going to the movie theater.

Where it gets tricky is when you find yourself paying for Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV Plus, and Max all at the same time. Why not cycle through them one at a time instead, canceling as you go. That way, you can keep up with your favorite shows when there’s a new season, and avoid paying for the other subscriptions when you aren’t using them. 

10. Become a More Mindful Consumer 

It’s the age old joke that you know you’ve become an adult when you have to spend money on things you don’t even want. But what if we could reduce those purchases and costs so that we could spend more of our cash on the things that actually make us happy?

Another great way to pay less for everything is to get into the habit of being intentional with your spending. Mindful spending techniques can help you to save tons of money over time, and can free up your funds to allow for spending on the things that really bring you joy! 

For example, putting a little more thought into how you heat or cool your home can save you tons every season. That’s real money saved that you can put towards your bigger and even more important financial goals!

11. Get 100% Savings 

Want to save 100% on a purchase? Close your browser tabs… then close your laptop… then go take a walk. 

Sometimes, we get reaaallllyyyy excited about making a purchase. Then, once that item arrives, we use it for a week and proceed to forget it exists. It finds its home in the junk drawer among the scissors, dead batteries and loose glitter (which you have no idea where it came from). Worst of all, you’re no happier than you were before you made this purchase. 

That’s because shopping gives us a rush of dopamine and endorphins. It feels really good to make a purchase because our brains are literally wired to enjoy it. The more we click the ‘buy’ button, the more we feel that rush. But the truth is, there are other ways to get these endorphins pumping. 

Exercise is a great alternative for when you’re feeling spendy. Go take a walk, and see if you still want that item when you get back. 

You could also put purchases on a one week wait list before pulling the trigger on them. Literally take 7 days to consider whether or not you really want it. It’s a bold move in the age of instant gratification, but you would be surprised at how often you don’t even want them anymore after a week. 

When all else fails, try asking yourself these questions to decide if the item is really something you want to spend on.

The Bottom Line: 

If you had the option to pay less for things, why wouldn’t you?

Sometimes, things cost what they cost, but many expenses in our lives are more flexible than we might think!

The more you start to look for discounts and deals, the more savvy you’ll get with it over time. With a little mindfulness, you can find ways to pay less for almost everything in your life. 

Well, that’s all the tips we have for you today! Make sure to check out these related resources for more tips on how to save more money.

Related Posts:

• 27 Ways to Save Money- In ALL Areas of Life
• Rule of 173: Small Savings Add up to Huge Amounts
• 30 Cheap Date Ideas to Save Money (and still have fun!)

Beer tasting notes:

While talking about paying less for everything we enjoyed an Origins by Crooked Stave! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!