Wealth and financial freedom are often conflated with higher income. But the way you spend money has just as much of an impact. In fact, many high-income families struggle to outearn their bad spending habits.
Nearly half of all American adults earning over $100,000 say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, while 36% of those earning over $200,000 say the same, according to a report by PYMNTS (1). This pay-as-you-go lifestyle doesn’t allow you to accumulate any wealth or freedom.
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If you’re in a similar situation and looking to break free from the vicious spending cycle, here are the top four unnecessary items you can cut out from your budget relatively quickly.
1. McMansions
Shelter is a necessity and probably the biggest line item on a typical family’s budget, according to 2023 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2). That means any adjustments to this line item can have a massive impact on your overall budget.
Simply put: if you can control your housing budget you can create plenty of breathing room in the rest of your personal finances.
Unfortunately, most families are tempted to overspend on housing. According to a 2025 Open Door report, 94% of Gen Z first-time home sellers and 86% of millennial first-time home sellers had regrets about buying a house (3). While many may have jumped into home ownership with low interest rates during the pandemic, the cost of ownership is proving too high and causing first-time home sellers to move on faster from these purchases.
Buying or renting a home is often an emotionally-charged decision, so it’s easy to fall into this so-called “McMansion” trap. But if you can avoid it and purchase a home that is under your budget, you could put your family on an easier path to long-term financial freedom.
2. New cars
The price of a new car jumped to more than $50,000 in 2025 — a record high, according to Kelley Blue Book (4). That’s significantly higher than the $38,948 price tag on a new car at the end of 2019 (5).
It’s not just prices that are rapidly climbing, but also interest rates. The average interest rate on a 48-month auto loan was 7.51% in August 2025. This is noticeably higher than the 5.27% rate in August, 2019, according to Federal Reserve data (6).
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Simply put, you’re going to face some sticker shock if you’re planning on buying a new car right now. Instead, you could go for a small, cheaper, used car at a significantly lower price. As of late-2025, the average used car sells for just half the price of a new one at $25,945, according to Kelley Blue Book (7).
3. Luxury vacations and experiences
Unfortunately, it’s getting more expensive to travel and have fun. Airline ticket prices are up 25% year-over-year, outpacing general inflation, according to the Federal Reserve of St. Louis (8). Meanwhile, the average price of a concert ticket is up from $91.86 in 2019 to $122.84 in 2025, according to Reuters (9).
You don’t need to cancel all luxuries, vacations and leisure activities to save money, but cutting back on the number of trips and concerts you visit per year could have a meaningful impact on your budget.
4. Food delivery
The speed and convenience of food delivery apps could be outweighed by the costs. That’s according to a new report by LendingTree, which found that a typical meal could cost roughly 80% more because of all the markups and additional fees associated with delivery (10). Despite this huge hidden cost, 40% of Americans say they use delivery apps at least once a week.
Minimizing or eliminating this habit by either picking up takeout or cooking at home could make a big difference in your long-term wealth.
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- Grant Gardone reveals the ‘real problem’ with US real estate (and what average Americans must actually do to get rich)
- 22 US states are already in a recession — protect your retirement savings with these 10 essential money moves ASAP
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Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
PYMNTS (1); Bureau of Labor Statistics (2); Open Door (3); Kelley Blue Book (4; 5; 7); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (6); CNBC (8); Reuters (9); LendingTree (10)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.