Once you reach your fifties, your spending habits begin to change. You’re not suddenly cheap, you just begin to see what purchases made you happy versus what purchases just made you busy.
I spent a January afternoon with a year’s worth of bank statements and a highlighter with embarrassment. I wasn’t proud of the money leaks caused by habits I had been casually ignoring.
Starting one at a time, I began eliminating expenses to see what I would actually miss. Here are twenty five things I stopped paying for, and my life has not gotten one bit smaller.
Anti-Aging Miracles in Tiny Jars
I’ve spent decades giving money to overpriced little jars that promise to reverse the clock and cost 80 dollars an ounce. What actually improves my skin is sunscreen, a simple moisturizer, sleep, and water. All of these elements cost less than a little jar and all of them work together better than any of those little jars. The marketing is aimed straight at our fear, not our faces. Now I can buy better food because I look the same as I did when I was using the expensive little skin care jar routine.
Trendy Clothes That Expire in a Season
Once, I dressed following the store’s suggestions. The next year, everything began to look like a costume. I buy clothing significantly less now, but better, in the colors and styles I’ve always appreciated. A good blazer and a decent pair of jeans have more lasting impressions than a trend of a thousand items. It was less expensive to dress like myself than to dress like the dummy in a store window.
The Cable Package With Five Hundred Strangers
I was spending a ton of cash to maintain access to hundreds of channels while I actually only use four. Cutting the service was nerve racking, I thought there might be stuff I missed, but ultimately it was background noise anyways. A streaming service and an antenna covers everything I actually use. The background noise service was costing me $2k a year.
Name Brands at the Grocery Store
The factories that make store-brand flour, sugar, butter, and canned tomatoes often make famous brand versions too. I did a one-for-one swap and my family could not tell the difference. I was charged an additional 30% for a prettier box. After 50 years of taste testing, I’ve earned the right to not buy name brands anymore.
Greeting Cards That Cost Like Gifts
Eight bucks is a lot to pay for a note that just gets thrown out. So I stopped. I buy blank cards in bulk now, which are cheaper, and people actually keep my handwritten notes, something that never happened with store bought notes. A real sentence trumps a crappy printed poem any day of the week. The card aisle no longer has any of my money, but my friends have earned real snail mail.
Single-Use Kitchen Gadgets
Avocado slicers, egg cookers, quesadilla presses, I owned them all at one point or another. They sat in a drawer while my knife did their jobs. Now my whole kitchen runs on a good knife, a cutting board, and a cast iron pan. If a tool only does one trick, it does not get to move in anymore.
Extended Warranties on Everything
For a while I said yes to offers at the register out of anxiety, and I found out I had never used one. You’re almost guaranteed to lose money with them. This is also probably the reason they’re so dedicated to selling them. I kept the money I would’ve spent and used it to fund my repairs, and the fund has covered my repairs with plenty left over.
Bottled Water by the Case
I brought cases of water to a house that has working water coming from the wall. I made that water purchasing habit end with a filter pitcher and some nice bottles. The taste difference disappeared after a week. I was paying rent to a convenience I didn’t need.
A Gym Membership I Visited in January
The monthly fee was real, but my attendance was theoretical. I’m a walker, not a gym person, and walking is free. A set of two dumbbells plus an online video covers the rest. My body does not care where the exercise happens, and my bank account prefers the sidewalk.
Salon Visits Every Four Weeks
My hairdresser is not going anywhere, but I used to color my hair every month, so I mostly formed a habit. Now I color my hair every other month and let the rest of the color grow out. Turns out letting my roots show saves me money and looks good at the same time. Salon trips are now special instead of just something I do every month.
Fast Fashion Shoes That Hurt Anyway
Cheap shoes cost me twice: at checkout and at the foot doctor. After age fifty, my feet get the first vote on every purchase. Now I own fewer shoes, but they are comfortable enough to actually walk in, and a few pricey pairs have been worth every penny. Shoes that you cannot stand in are by no means frugal.
Magazine Subscriptions I Stacked Unread
The stack of magazines on the coffee table showcased good intentions gone wrong. I would read each one slowly, only for the guilt to set in as I would accumulate the new magazines at a faster rate. I could have used the magazines for free at the libary, and the recipes could have been found online. I celebrated the cancelation of guilt by retaining the subscription for a magazine that I would actually read from cover to cover.
New Books at Full Price
I love reading too much to quit, so I stopped buying books new by default. The library and used bookstores are my main sources of books. Little Free Libraries help too. I buy the books I really love a second time since my bookshelves are now full of books I plan to keep instead of maybe books. Now I get to read a lot more for a fraction of the cost.
A Cleaning Product for Every Surface
My cabinet held a glass cleaner, along with sprays for other surfaces like granite, wood, stainless steel and bathrooms. In reality, all of these sprays are for the same thing, and now all that’s needed to clean the household is vinegar, baking soda, dish soap, and an all-purpose spray. Marketing created nearly all of those categories, not chemistry.
Daily Coffee I Could Make Better at Home
I calculated it as I waited in line. For me, five dollars a day works out to eighteen hundred dollars a year. I chose a better coffee machine and quality coffee beans. Now my homemade coffee beats the drive through. Coffee shops now provide a Saturday morning treat because they aren’t a daily financial burden. The same satisfaction but now it’s only one tenth of the price.
Seasonal Decor Hauls
Each holiday came with a fully loaded cart filled to the brim with festive pillows and decorations. Now, I buy one good box full of decorations, and I am happy knowing I have things I like around the house to create a festive ambiance. I have learned that decorations do not go bad, and the stores know we’ll forget what we have at home. I have stopped forgetting.
Stacked Streaming Services
Somewhere along the way I ended up paying for six services and watching two. I currently only pay for two at a time and substitute one service for another depending on which shows are offered. My evenings are unchanged, but the bill is a lot smaller. Services want you to ignore your payments, so I keep mine on a sticky note where I cannot forget them.
Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags
I used to buy gorgeous paper that would get torn off and thrown away in nine seconds. Brown kraft paper with ribbon is better than the majority of what I previously bought and the comics page works well for the grandkids. Saved gift bags circulate through my family like cash. No one has ever remembered the wrapping longer than the gift.
Jewelry That Turns on You
Costume jewelry used to fill a drawer, and all of it tarnished and pinched. Eventually, I decided to stop buying more. I’d rather have six real pieces I wear constantly than sixty that flake. These pieces will not go out of style, and they will be passed on through the years, not thrown out. Cheap sparkle is the most expensive kind, per wear.
The Latest Phone Every Two Years
I upgraded on schedule for a long time because the store said I should. Given how old this phone is, it surprises me that it’s so convenient. It takes adorable pictures of grandkids, and functions well. A new battery costs ninety dollars, and a new phone costs a thousand. Camera quality is better for people who take pictures of mountains. I take pictures of birthday cakes!
Paper Towels for Every Little Thing
I used to buy paper towels by the armload to wipe counters a rag wipes better. An entire drawer full of cotton rags pieced together from old shirts will soak up just about anything. One roll of paper towels lasts a month for the really nasty jobs. My grandma was right about this one too. It’s a small, every day savings that will continue to run in perpetuity.
Lottery Tickets and Little Gambles
One ticket at a time doesn’t seem like a big cost; overall, the loss gets quite huge. The daydream was fun, but a savings account with automatic deposits turned out to be the daydream that actually pays. I usually buy myself one lucky dip when the jackpot makes the news, but for the remaining fifty weeks, the money stays mine.
Keeping-Up Dinners and Obligation Events
I wouldn’t say no to dinners and group gifts before, but once I reached 50, I learned that no is free and needs no explanation. Every friendship that mattered survived the honesty, every single one. My calendar and my wallet both breathe easier now.
Dryer Sheets and Laundry Extras
Scent boosters, softeners, dryer sheets, my laundry shelf used to look like a perfume counter. The dryer balls and half of the suggested detergent cap measurements keep clothes clean and soft. Towels also become more absorbent when not covered in a coating. The aisle sells fragrance and not cleanliness. I stopped paying for fog.
Buying for the Person I Kept Meaning to Become
The bread maker, the kayak rack, the craft supplies, all bought for an imaginary future me. That girl was sweet, but she never showed up. All these toys meant for an imaginary me now fill my closets. I have learned the hard way to only buy a hobby when it has proven it will stick around. I like the life I fund for myself anyway.
