Five simple money moves that take just five minutes
Meaningful progress on your money doesn’t require hours; it can happen in short, focused bursts. Here are five simple money moves, each designed to take just five minutes. Set your timer and let’s go!
Spend five minutes cancelling or simplifying one thing
Choose one small area to simplify. This could mean cancelling (or downgrading) a subscription you no longer use or could do without. It might involve reviewing your calendar and cutting back on your social plans; reducing the sheer number of plans and/or simplifying them to save money (swapping a dinner date for a coffee and a walk). Unsubscribing from retail emails that trigger impulse spending and removing a stored payment method from a shopping app are also great actions.
By spending just five minutes on this first task, you’ll achieve a quick win (money saved!), and reduce financial friction, making this five-minute fix highly repeatable.
Spend five minutes reviewing one policy
They’re probably still in their respective envelopes and/or attached to an unopened email. It’s time to open just one insurance policy. It could be for your home, auto, life, disability, critical illness, and if you’re a self-employed person, it might be your professional liability insurance.
Take five minutes to skim the coverage amounts, renewal date, and monthly or annual cost. Put the policy through AI to help digest the critical details instantly and to give you a summary of your coverage. Ask yourself one question: does this still reflect my life today? If your life circumstances changed, it’s time to update your coverage.
You’re not trying to optimize or shop around at this moment. You’re simply checking for anything that feels outdated or off. If something stands out, flag it and mark your calendar to take action on it when you’ve got time over the coming weeks. This one small check can save you from being overinsured, underinsured (very risky), or paying for something you no longer need.
Spend five minutes creating a micro savings goal
Open your banking app and decide on one small, specific savings goal that’s achievable and immediate. This could be a total sum like $500 over the next six weeks ($83 per week). Or, it could be a goal of a certain weekly or daily amount, with an indefinite timeline on it. If your budget is tight, this might work out to $25 per week. If you’ve got more flexibility, you may want to try $27.40 per day to reach $10,000 within a year.
Then write it down in your notes app or label a savings account with that goal’s nickname. Automate it with your banking app. Schedule it to happen right after your paycheque hits, so the money moves before you have a chance to spend it.
A clearly defined goal gives your money direction. Start small. Your capacity to save will grow as you implement these other five-minute fixes, freeing up your cash flow.
Spend five minutes scanning over your last 30 transactions
Log into your bank or credit card account and open your recent transactions. Carefully scroll through your last 30 or so purchases. You’re not analyzing everything, or chastising yourself for spending too much. You’re just noticing. Did anything surprise you? Are there small, recurring charges you’ve ignored? Have certain expenses crept up? Do any of the transactions seem wasteful, or totally worth it?
If you spot something unnecessary, act immediately. Cancel it, make a note to revisit it, or transfer an equivalent amount into savings. This quick scan helps catch small leaks before they turn into bigger ones. Most of the time, these leaks can be stopped with a few simple clicks to cancel.
Spend five minutes doing a ‘use it first’ check
Before making your next purchase, pause for five minutes and do a quick inventory of what you already own. Open your closet, your kitchen cabinet, your garage, or even just your mental list, and ask yourself a simple question: do I already have something that could serve this purpose?
Most of the time, the answer is yes. You already have clothes you haven’t worn, tools you haven’t used, or products you haven’t finished. That quick check can stop an unnecessary purchase before it happens. This five-minute habit doesn’t just save money, it increases the value of what you already own by bringing down your cost per use.
What actually keeps that momentum going isn’t a big overhaul. It’s these small, repeatable actions.
This article was originally published in The Star. Lesley-Anne Scorgie is a Toronto-based personal finance columnist and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star.
