Follow this checklist once a year and Save $500 or more
Your New Year checklist for minimal effort, high impact savings
The New Year is for fresh starts. New habits, new goals, new money hacks that actually make your life easier.
Instead of telling yourself you will budget harder this year, start with the bills you already pay. This is one of the simplest ways to save real money without changing your lifestyle.
If you never review your recurring expenses, they can creep up. A few dollars here, a few dollars there, every single year.. and then suddenly your bill increased by 50% without you noticing. Service providers count on you not noticing.
And loyalty does not pay: companies reward new customers, not the ones who stay forever. This is part of their client acquisition strategy. So be loyal to your bank account, not corporations that profit from slowly draining it.
As my girl Taylor Swift would say: Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes.
Here is what is worth reviewing at least once a year:
1. Service providers
Telecom in Canada has become highly competitive in the past couple of years, lowering costs for consumers, which works in your favour. A quick call or a short search can lower your internet, cellphone, and subscription bills. In my experience, the new cellphone providers will even cancel your old plan for you, making it that much easier to switch.
Saving 15$ to 20$ a month adds up fast. That is a few hundred dollars a year from a phone call.
Real life example: your Hot Money Mom changed cellphone providers three times this year. My old provider even called me back with a better deal once I left. That is correct: I have absolutely no loyalty to my cellphone carriers.
My bill dropped from about $55 to $30 a month. That adds up to about $300 a year. If you have family plans, this can amount to even more.
We also switched internet providers twice, bringing the bill from $80 down to $55. That is another $300 saved.
Another way to save is to bundle your services with one provider. Remember, if you do not ask, you do not get anything.
Yes, updating payment info is annoying. But think about how long it takes to earn $600, and then you have to pay tax on it. Review once a year and then let them chase you.
2. Banking
Canadian banks posted record profits in 2025, and contrary to what we might think, a lot of this is due to banking fees and not interest on loans. Yup that is right: nearly 48% of Canadian bank revenue as of 2022 came from non-interest income, which includes everyday banking charges.
Bank account fees reached roughly 6 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2025, and these fees are up 267% from 1.56 billion dollars in 1996, the first year this data was made public.
The result: the average Canadian pays between $120 to $360 a year in banking fees.
This is wild in a world where most banking is done online and many online banking companies offer free services.
Online companies like Wealthsimple, EQ, Neo Fianncial and Tangerine offer the banking same services next to nothing in fees (if any), and the accounts are easy to open from the comfort of your home (and by that I mean your phone).
Changing banks can save you hundreds.
When was the last time you stepped into a branch anyway?
If online banking platforms makes you uneasy, many traditional banks have recently comitted to rolling out initiatives to reduce fees and even offer free banking to certain groups of people, such as newcomers and Indigenous people. That can be worth looking into as well. And sometimes speaking with your bank can lower fees.
There is also a bank account comparison tool provided by the Government of Canada that lets you easily compare fees across institutions before making a switch (also see my Ressources page for other tools like this one).
3. Insurance
Insurance is another category worth shopping.
Sometimes a single phone call gets you a lower rate. If it does not, comparing quotes and switching providers can save a few hundred dollars without changing your coverage. This can easily add up, especially if you carry multiple policies, such as for your car, life, disability, home & pet insurance.
You can also ask if something can be done to lower your quotes even more, like putting a tracker on your car to show that you are a good driver or getting a medical exam to lower the cost on your life insurance policy.
4. Shop your credit card
If you pay your credit card off every month, it should be working for you. Find a credit card that rewards what you actually spend on. Some cards offer cash back of 4%, and sometimes even more, for certain categories of purchases. Common categories are groceries, travel and gas. So find a card that meets your needs.
Are you doing biweekly trips to Costco to feed an army of teenagers that are growing like weeds ? Find a card that rewards that.
Long commute? Look for gas rewards.
Love travel? Pick a card that maximizes points and perks.
Some people carry more than one card to maximize their kickbacks accross different categories. Others prefer simplicity and choose a card with a solid base cashback rate for everything.
Hot tip: be weary of the annual fees on credit cards. Unlike banking fees, the fees could be worth it, but make sure that the math is mathing.
Last year, we earned over 700$ in cash back from our credit cards. And after a quick google search, it looks like there is an even better option for us now. That is why we need to do yearly reviews.
If you tend to carry a balance on your credit cards, your strategy would be to look for a card with a lower interest and to move that balance. Another way is to pay off the balance with a line of credit that has a lower interest rate. Be weary of transfer rates and one time promotial deals, and once again do the math.
5. Employer benefits
This one is surprisingly overlooked, and it can be like a pile of free money just waiting to be used.
Many employers offer benefits that go unused. Wellness accounts, insurance perks, massage coverage, therapy, physiotherapy.
That is literally free money for things that are good for you.
Take a couple minutes to read your plan. Use it. And make sure you submit your claims.
6. The Wildcard category
Negotiate everythig once a year: gym memberships, storage units, even some professional services.
A simple email asking if there is a better rate works more often than people expect, and this can add up to substantial savings.
The checklist
So you have read the list, but now let’s make it easy to actually follow through.
For added simplicity, in Hot Money Mom style, I created a free checklist you can use to make sure you lock in those savings.
Download the checklist, check things off as you go, and chip away at it over time.
The takeaway
Saving money does not have to be dramatic: there are minimal effort, and high impact ways to save money. We just need to be smart about it.
And if you have your own money saving tricks, send them my way. I love a good money win.
