Rachel Cruze: 8 Ways To Lower Your Essential Costs
Written by
Ashley Donohoe
Edited by
Amen Oyiboke
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Deloitte Insights data showed that 78% of Americans worried about inflation and that monthly nondiscretionary spending was up by 8% in August 2025. While it’s easy to scale back on luxuries like new electronics and vacations, reducing your essential living costs is trickier and can require some creativity.
In a YouTube video, money expert Rachel Cruze focused on how you can successfully lower the costs of your “four walls,” which are housing, transportation, utilities and food.
Here are eight smart strategies to start saving money on essentials today.
Cancel or Combine Streaming Services
Cruze classified streaming services as a utility and explained how it’s very easy to accumulate more of these expenses each month.
If you find yourself not using a certain service much, consider canceling it and looking for free alternatives, like YouTube, Tubi, Pluto TV and options through your local library. You can also see if one of your other services has what you need or if a cheaper bundle is available.
Reduce Your Utility Usage
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that energy costs went down by 1.1% in July 2025, cutting your utility usage is still an easy way to save money.
Cruze suggested steps like turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth, not leaving lights on unnecessarily and rethinking your thermostat setting. You can also consider buying more efficient light bulbs and appliances when you upgrade and comparing rates for providers.
Get Rid of Car Payments
Your car loan payments could be crushing your budget. According to Experian, the average monthly payment in the first quarter of 2025 was $521 for used cars and $745 for new cars.
So you can reclaim this money, Cruze suggested selling the vehicle and using cash to buy an affordable used one. If you owe more than the car is worth, Cruze’s advice was to get a small bank loan to cover the difference between the loan amount and the sale price you get.
Use Coupons for Car Maintenance
Whether you need an oil change or a tire rotation, maintenance expenses further add to your overall car ownership cost. While you might feel tempted to delay some of these services, Cruze encouraged getting them and using coupons to save some money.
She added, “When you’re taking care of your car, it’s going to avoid bigger issues later on that’s going to cost you a lot of money.”
Reassess Your Homeowners Insurance
The Consumer Federation of America found that homeowners’ insurance premiums had gone up by 24% from 2021 to 2024.
Cruze suggested asking about a home and auto insurance bundle to save money. You can also weigh moves like setting a higher deductible, changing to a cheaper insurance company, and lowering policy limits for your property and belongings.
Make an Extra Mortgage Payment
While this step won’t free up your budget just yet, it will save you in interest and help you get rid of the mortgage sooner than if you stick with 12 payments per year. You also have the flexibility to simply make a one-time extra payment or make it a monthly or quarterly habit.
You can experiment with the Ramsey Solutions mortgage payoff calculator, which lets you simulate making extra payments based on different frequencies and shows the effects on interest and your payoff timeline.
Stop Eating Out
Having a convenient lunch at the restaurant near work or splurging on a fancy dinner is a nice way to treat yourself. However, it can also hurt your finances, especially after you factor in all the costs of the food and extras like tips and service charges.
Cruze said, “This doesn’t have to be forever, but if you are at a point that you need more margin in your budget, cut going out to eat for a month and see how much money you save.”
Choose Generic Groceries
An easy way to save at the grocery store is to buy store-brand items. Depending on what you get, you may not notice much of a difference between generic and name brands, but check the customer reviews to get a better idea of the quality.
While you’re at it, consider some extra grocery savings tips that Cruze suggested in a blog post, such as using curbside pickup to avoid impulse buys, buying bulk products when it makes sense, storing frozen meals, shopping during sales and using what’s in your pantry.
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