15 Ways to Cut Spending and Save More for Retirement

Saving for retirement is a lifelong endeavor. And the more you can cut spending early on throughout your career, the more cash you can devote to preparing for your later years.

These 15 tips can help you to reduce your expenditures today so you can have a more secure tomorrow.

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One of the easiest ways to cut spending and increase your savings is to make slow gradual changes. And you can do this by inching up the amount you contribute to your retirement accounts.

Say, for example, you're currently putting 5% of your income into your 401(k) or IRA. Change that amount to 6%, and then wait a few months and go up to 7% and so on. Keep slowly increasing the amount you invest until you can no longer make your spending work.

If you slowly increase what you contribute automatically, you shouldn't notice much of a difference and will have time to adjust to the changes you need to make.

Making a budget that prioritizes retirement savings gives you the ideal opportunity to cut spending. Once you know how much you want to invest for retirement, you can treat that as a must-pay bill.

You can then set spending limits on other purchases that give you plenty of money to save for retirement. As long as you make your budget realistic and commit to sticking to it, this can make a huge difference in the size of your retirement nest egg.

ALSO READ: 4 Ways to Save More for Retirement Without Sacrificing Your Lifestyle

Keeping track of the amount you spend helps you to save more for retirement in a few ways.

Tracking spending helps ensure you're sticking to your budget so you have enough to invest for the future. It helps you identify areas where you're splurging too much, which enables you to redirect that money to saving for retirement.

And it also makes you more conscious of where your money is going, which means you're less likely to make impulse purchases.

If you're thinking about buying something, don't take action right away. Instead, set a rule that you'll consider the purchase for 24 hours before you actually buy.

Taking the time to consider the purchase more carefully will often lead you to decide you don't actually want the item at all. You can save the money you'd have spent on it, leaving you with extra cash for retirement savings.

Sometimes, you need to borrow for big purchases such as a home. But aim to limit the amount of debt you take on, especially if you would have to take on high-interest consumer debt such as credit card debt.

By steering clear of unnecessary borrowing, you can eliminate spending money on interest charges, and can instead use that money to shore up your retirement savings accounts.

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Purchasing a new car can be very expensive, and many people end up with car loans for most of their lives as they replace their vehicles regularly.

Instead of driving an expensive new car and upgrading shortly after your existing vehicle is paid off, choose a cheaper used car instead. Drive it for as long as possible, so you can minimize the months in which you make car payments.

When you aren't paying for a car, you can put more of that money into retirement accounts.

ALSO READ: How Your Car Might Crush Your Retirement Dreams

Coupons provide the chance to cut spending without changing your lifestyle since you can spend less on items you're purchasing.

When buying items online, always search for coupon codes before making your purchase. You can also get coupons for grocery store items, either by clipping them yourself or buying them online.

When you save with coupons, transfer the extra amount you didn't spend to your retirement accounts.

Instead of eating out on impulse, make a weekly meal plan for breakfast, lunches, and dinners. Build your plan around what's on sale and consider batch cooking, or making large portions of meals you can eat multiple times or freeze for leftovers later.

By planning your meals, you save on groceries and reduce your dining out expenditures. Cutting these costs should free up lots of cash to invest for the future.

Chances are good that you have certain bills you pay each month such as gym memberships, cable TV subscriptions, or cell phone bills.

If you can reduce these fixed expenses, you can redirect the extra money to your retirement plan. You can do this by shopping around regularly for providers or eliminating services you don't use enough to justify the expense.

Commuting can be a major expense.

If you can carpool with a coworker or ride your bike to work a few days a week, you could reduce what you're spending on gas and make your car last longer. Both would help you save more for retirement.

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Health insurance, home insurance, auto insurance, and life insurance can all provide vitally important protection. But you don't want to pay more than necessary for the coverage you need.

Get quotes regularly on your policies, make sure they are a good fit for your lifestyle, and decide what size deductible makes sense for you.

If you can reduce your premiums while still remaining protected, you can put the money you save into your retirement accounts.

ALSO READ: This Overlooked Expense Is Waiting to Gouge Your Retirement Savings

Buying used items whenever you can helps you to keep your costs down. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to do that. Shop thrift stores or use online groups to try to find pre-owned items at a discount.

Not only does this help you to spend less so you can save more for retirement, but it also keeps items out of landfills so you can help protect the environment.

Challenging yourself to go for an entire month without spending on anything but necessities can be a great way to increase your retirement savings.

Not only will you reduce your expenditures during the course of that month, giving you a chance to pad your retirement accounts, but you'll also get out of the spending mindset.

That can help you to spend less going forward since you'll be more practiced at exploring other solutions besides running to the store.

In most cases, you can save a lot by buying generic items instead of name brand. And there's often very little difference in terms of the quality of the item.

If you can reduce what you spend on groceries by buying generic, you can put the savings into your retirement plan.

ALSO READ: 4 Sample Retirement Savings Plans for Every Age

Shopping when you're hungry makes you more likely to purchase items. And surprisingly, that's not just true at the grocery store. Studies have shown people buy more nonfood items when they shop hungry, too.

Eating before you head to the store is a simple way to reduce spending, and any time you can cut impulse buying, you can make it easier to invest for the future.

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The sooner you reduce your spending, the more quickly you can start putting more money into your retirement accounts.

Try out as many of these 15 tips as you can, and be sure to move the money you save into your retirement accounts right away so you aren't tempted to spend it on anything else besides securing your future.

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