Photo from our Packing Tips Post 

With summer around the corner and our Instagram feed full of beautiful travel images, we have been preoccupied with planning a getaway to satisfy our wanderlust. If you’re in the same boat, you’re might be strategizing the best time to take off work as well as how to take a true vacation that is also cost-friendly.

We’re firm believers that everyone needs to take a solid week-long break every once in a while to refuel and be inspired. Of course, a seven day vacation can get pricey, so we’re budgeting ahead of time. We evaluated our weekly spending habits and decided that there are quite a few we can live without, at least temporarily. Read on below for a list of 5 weekly habits to kick so that you can book the vacation you deserve! 

Photo courtesy of The Everygirl

1. Do Your Own Nails

You don’t have to be skilled at painting your nails to kick the weekly nail salon visits! If you’re like us, when your polish chips you have to get it fixed, but painting your own nails is out of the question. To cut down on our manicure / pedicure expenses, we’ve decided to go all natural with our fingernails. It’s minimal upkeep and we don’t feel the need to get a fresh mani all the time. Plus, we love the simple, carefree French-girl look of a clean buffed nail. If you want to give your nails a little TLC, paint a clear coat of SpaRitual Protein Boost on your nails every few days.

Photo from our delicious & healthy dessert post

2. Adopt a Meal Plan and Cook a Little Extra

We’ve found that we spend a lot more on food during weeks when we don’t have a meal plan. If we don’t have adequate groceries in our kitchen when we get home from work, we end up ordering take out or going out to eat more than we should. And if we visit the grocery store without a set list of ingredients, we end up spending more than we should on food that won’t last us the whole week. Side note, never go to the grocery store when you’re hungry!

We love pulling meal plans from Smart in the Kitchen to help us stay on budget. We also try to cook a little more than what our household needs so that we have plenty of leftovers to eat for lunch or on an off night when we don’t feel like cooking.

Photo from our Living Room tour

3. Say Adios to Cable

With so many alternative streaming options like Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, and Roku, it’s hard to justify a lofty cable bill. Look into streaming options that allow you to select exactly which channels you want instead of paying an arm and a leg for the full cable line up.

Photo from our at home cold brew coffee machine post

4. Say No to Starbucks & Learn to Love Home-Brewed Coffee

We totally get it. Swinging by your neighborhood coffee shop is a ritual, it’s convenient, and it’s something to look forward to in the morning. But, it’s way more expensive than making your own coffee at home! We promise, you can grow to love brewing coffee at home if you don’t already! We love the smell of coffee brewing in our kitchen in the morning and feel like we’ve started the day efficiently when we head out the door with a to-go thermos! If you’re an iced coffee drinker, we have a favorite cold brew coffee maker that makes iced coffee just as tasty as the coffee shop!

Photo from our favorite detox smoothie recipe post

5. Skip the Snooze Button

Our morning routine determines a lot of how our finances for the day pan out. If we’re scrambling to get somewhere on time, chances are we don’t have time to make breakfast (like this delicious smoothie), or coffee, or a lunch to go, and end up purchasing all of the above instead. If we give ourselves enough time to prepare for the day ahead, we end up saving a significant amount of money.

What are your favorite ways to save?  We would love to hear your tips in the comments below.  Be sure to share so we can all learn new more ways to save. xo