Do a massive cull of everything you own. I swear you will never want to buy another thing again.
+1. I just moved, so I had to pack every single thing I own. Realization: I have way too much shit. Probably not gonna want to buy anything for a couple of months
Same here. I got rid of a lot of stuff right before the move, and still felt weighed down by too much stuff.
+1 again. I actually cull (or spring cleaning!) every 3-6 months to whittle down more and more. We are down to 5 boxes:
1x Books (I have no book shelves! Ah!)
1x Holiday Decorations
1x Camping/Survival Equipment
2x Winter Clothes/Summer Clothes (depending on the season)
Everything else is used daily, weekly or monthly. We are getting down to having zero junk in the house. Everything has 1 or more purposes.
The other thing I did that helped IMMENSELY in my spending is I drew up a diagram of hobbies and interests and then defined 3 core hobbies and 3 interests.
Hobbies are:
Camping
Cycling
Cooking
Interests are:
Video Games
Wood working
Drinking fine liquor (single malt scotch for those interested)
Hobbies I can outfit myself for - these are core things I do to make myself happy. These are the things I can actually spend money on (No more than 150/mo on everything, rolling over each month). For me, this means I can spend to get a floor pump, grips, new pedals, better tires, cycling clothing, camp clothing, camping equipment, cooking utensils (I need a mesh strainer soon!), etc... I am actually at the point where I'm spending $0 on cycling and camping and have very little I need for cooking (~30 dollars on my to-get list), so the 150/mo will just roll over into my savings.
Interests I can only spend 25/mo on, rolling over. This means if I want a fine ass bottle of Lagavulin 16 year old single malt scotch ($100), I have to save for 4 months (luckily a bottle like this lasts ~8 months). A 60 dollar video game is 2.5 months. Want to get some nice cherry planks for a project? 1-3 months. I'm still getting what I need for my interests, but I think a lot harder about EXACTLY what I'm doing and buying.
If it is not in my interest or hobby list, I don't spend money on it. It takes some self discipline, but has been incredibly helpful in focusing my spending and budgeting.