AARP Hearing Center
10 Money-Saving Moves to Make This Fall
Take advantage of seasonal opportunities to reduce expenses, avoid costly mistakes and position yourself for a stronger financial year ahead
7-minute read
Lars Leetaru
Key takeaways
- Fall home maintenance can help you avoid expensive repairs in the winter.
- Switching wireless plans and canceling unused subscriptions can free up funds for holiday gifts.
- To maximize tax savings, consider boosting your retirement plan contributions.
Autumn ushers in pumpkin-spiced lattes, harvest festivals and beautiful fall foliage. It also presents opportunities to improve your finances.
Whether you’re looking to tighten your budget or get a head start on holiday shopping, these fall money-saving moves can help you reduce costs and avoid overspending both now and in 2027.
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Prepare your home for winter
Check for any home repairs that need to be addressed before the colder weather arrives. Also, make sure to tick off important home maintenance tasks, like trimming trees, clearing out gutters and air sealing windows and doors. “Homeowners should focus on small preventative expenses that can avoid larger ones,” says Trent Von Ahsen, a certified financial planner and managing partner at Cedar Point Capital Partners in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
A home energy audit, where a professional uses specialized equipment to assess your house’s energy efficiency, can help identify problem areas. Correcting air leaks alone can lower a home’s energy costs by up to 30 percent, according to the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment.
A professional energy audit typically costs between $200 and $700, according to HomeAdvisor, an online marketplace that connects homeowners with service professionals. Your city or utility company might offer free or subsidized energy audits. Low-income households may qualify for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps recipients save an average of $372 a year on energy costs through energy-efficient improvements and upgrades.
Reshop your mobile phone plan
Fall is the best time of the year to get a deal on a cellphone plan, says Thad Hwang, CEO of Goji Mobile, an online marketplace for comparing wireless phone plans. “Fall is the closest thing our industry has to a buyer’s market on your monthly bill,” he says.
When Apple releases its new iPhone models in September, wireless carriers compete to get smartphone buyers to switch to their service plans by offering promotional pricing, waived fees and bill credits. Many of these offers run through Black Friday, when lower-cost carriers, in particular, offer some of their steepest discounts of the year, such as 30 percent off a full year of service, Hwang says. “Shoppers who use that window to compare plans, whether or not they need a new phone, routinely cut their bill by $40 to $125 a month,” he says.
Identify unused subscriptions and services
Review your credit card and bank statements for subscriptions, memberships or services that you aren’t using. “Individually, those charges may not seem meaningful, but by eliminating several of them, they can produce real, consistent savings,” Von Ahsen says. A 2026 report by CNET found that U.S. adults spend an average of $252 per year on unused subscriptions.
Finding and plugging these kinds of money leaks now can prevent them from continuing to drain your budget in 2027, Von Ahsen says. Plus, you can use the extra cash — along with the savings from switching to a lower-priced cellular plan — to help pay for holiday gifts. Speaking of …
Get a head start on holiday shopping
“You don’t have to wait until Black Friday to start checking gifts off your list,” says Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, a shopping and savings strategist for Rakuten, an online shopping portal that allows consumers to earn cash back on purchases. “Fall is increasingly filled with promotional moments.” By starting your holiday shopping in October, you can capitalize on early holiday sales, spread out your spending over several months and avoid inventory shortages closer to the holidays.
Before you begin shopping, Von Ahsen recommends creating a budget specifically for holiday shopping. “Decide what you can comfortably spend, set that money aside and then shop within it,” he says.
Downloading retailers’ mobile apps and signing up for sales and coupon alerts via email or text message can help you spot the best deals, says Laura Adams, host of the Money Girl podcast and an analyst with Dollar General. In addition, consider downloading browser extensions from Rakuten, RetailMeNot or PayPal Honey, which automatically search for coupons and cash-back offers from retailers when you shop online.
Looking to purchase specific products? You can track prices through Google Shopping, camelcamelcamel, Keepa or Honey’s Droplist.
Already met your health insurance deductible? Schedule surgeries and procedures
Now could be a good time to get that knee surgery you’ve been putting off, depending on how much you’ve already spent on health care this year. “If you’re close to reaching a deductible limit, you might want to go ahead and schedule something rather than waiting for January, when your deductible resets,” Adams says.
To see whether you’ve met your deductible, you can log in to your online health insurance account or contact your insurer.
Spend down your FSA balance
If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) for health care costs, you likely need to spend the funds by the end of the year to avoid forfeiting them. So, make a plan now to use your FSA dollars, Von Ahsen advises, “rather than scrambling at the end of December like everyone else.”
In addition to using the money for health insurance deductibles and copayments, FSA funds can be used to pay for eyeglasses and contact lenses, dental treatment, hearing aids and a variety of other medical expenses. The IRS has a complete list of eligible medical expenses.
Shop for lower premiums during ACA open enrollment …
If you buy your health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, you likely will have to pay more for coverage next year. Marketplace insurers have proposed a median premium increase of 15 percent for 2027, according to an analysis by health policy nonprofit KFF.
Still, it’s worth comparing your options to find the right plan for you. “Don’t assume the plan you have now is the right plan next year,” Adams says. You can browse estimated prices for plans at healthcare.gov and make changes to your coverage during open enrollment, from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15.
… or review options during Medicare open enrollment
Medicare beneficiaries have an opportunity during open enrollment, which runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, to make changes to their coverage. If you have original Medicare, you can sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan, sign up for a Part D prescription plan or switch to another plan if you already have Part D coverage. If you’re currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can change plans or return to original Medicare.
Medicare plans “tend to change significantly from year to year, and not going through your new benefits with a fine-tooth comb can be costly,” says Jason Gerstenberger, an independent insurance broker in Burnt Hills, New York. “Even if your benefits haven’t changed, it’s possible that other plans have become more competitive and could possibly yield additional savings.”
If you have Medicare Advantage, read the annual notice of change letter that you receive in September to see if adjustments are being made to your plan’s costs, benefits or provider network in 2027. You can use the Medicare Plan Finder to compare Medicare Advantage and Part D plans in your area. Be sure to review the plan’s annual cost, including premiums, deductibles, coinsurance payments and out-of-pocket costs for any prescriptions you have, Gerstenberger says.
Boost retirement account contributions for tax savings
Every dollar you contribute to a 401(k) or similar workplace retirement plan through payroll deductions reduces your taxable income. If you act now, you still have time to maximize your tax savings by boosting your contributions through the end of the year.
Employees younger than 50 can contribute up to $24,500 to a 401(K) in 2026. Workers 50 and older can make an additional $8,000 catch-up contribution, for a maximum contribution of $32,500. Those ages 60, 61, 62 and 63 have a higher catch-up limit of $11,250, for a total contribution of $35,750.
Savers can contribute up to $7,500 to an individual retirement account (IRA) in 2026. Those 50 and older can chip in an additional $1,100, for a maximum contribution of $8,600. You can deduct the full amount of your traditional IRA contribution on your federal income tax return if you don’t have a retirement plan of any kind through work.
Take IRA RMDs
Traditional IRA and workplace retirement plan account holders must withdraw a required amount each year — starting at age 73 for most account owners — to avoid hefty IRS penalties. The deadline for these required minimum distributions (RMDs) is Dec. 31 — unless you turned 73 this year, in which case you have until April 1, 2027, to take your first RMD.
You can determine your minimum withdrawal amount using AARP’s RMD calculator. You must pay a 25 percent penalty on any amount that you fail to withdraw; the penalty drops to 10 percent if you take the missed RMD within two years.
Keep in mind, traditional IRA and workplace retirement plan withdrawals are taxed at your regular income tax rate. To reduce the tax hit, you could donate a portion or all of your RMD to charity. “If you donate to charity or plan to, a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA satisfies the RMD requirement and never becomes taxable income,” Gerstenberger says. The contribution must be transferred directly from your IRA to avoid taxes.
The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
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