What do you do once you’ve tightened your budget and you’re just not sure where else you can cut corners? You get creative! Look around at your life and decide what really matters. If you want to see what you most value, look at your receipts from last month. If you don’t like what you see, time to make some imaginative changes!

Quality, Not Quantity

Every item you bring into your home is something you now have to consciously think of and care for. Each piece is going to take mental energy to inventory- so downsize to a level where you know exactly what you have. This way you won’t buy duplicates, which is this is the key. A lot of money is wasted on an accidental stockpile. How many shirts or socks or cereal boxes do you actually need? Two added benefits of minimalism is you scale back on the amount of money you are spending, and less time taking care of the items you have. Quality, not quantity. Change your thinking from “What if I will need this” to “Is this item where I want to spend my money?”

Right-size Your Home

Some might say this goes along with minimalism, but I’m not trying to sell you a tiny home here, so stay with me. 25-45% of American’s take home pay goes toward living expenses. We feel like we need a bigger home than we actually need. Studies have shown our habits in our home are only concentrated in the main living spaces. We buy bigger homes than we need to accommodate all the stuff that we have. Is your stuff so important that you’re willing to pay hundreds of dollars a month more just to store these things? Think of your belongings as renting that space. The more space it takes, the more “rent” you are paying yourself for it.  Downsize your stuff and consider the square footage that you actually need, not that you desire. Remember that a bigger house means a higher mortgage payment, property taxes, insurance, maintenance repairs, and other bills that come with it. Don’t buy or rent too big of a space.

Know Your Insurance

Know the particulars of your insurance. Don’t rely on the administration at your doctor’s office to know the ins and outs of your health insurance, because they don’t pay your bills! Some work companies offer incentives or have programs for health promotions. Other larger companies will have deals set up for their employees to receive a discount with cell phone companies, fitness centers, or big box name stores. You don’t want to miss out on these opportunities!

“Being frugal doesn’t mean you’re cheap. It means you want to invest your money in things that really matter,” says Lydia Senn, a lifestyle blogger at Frugal, Debt-Free Life. Put your money into the things that really will stay with you for long term. Stop bringing items into your home that aren’t important to your future.