What to know
“Soft saving,” a social-media popularized trend, encourages people to balance enjoying life now while still putting aside small amounts of money for the future.
Some Torontonians say they already practice it informally, like rotating subscriptions or saving small amounts while still spending on treats.
Experts say the approach pushes back against aggressive saving and hustle culture, reflecting a post-pandemic shift toward financial balance and well-being, especially among younger generations.
Financial educators stress that saving anything is better than nothing, and starting small, automating savings, and auditing subscriptions can help build sustainable habits over time.
Living your best life without breaking the bank — that’s what the “soft saving” financial practice is all about.
It’s a term that gained popularity on social media in recent years.
Many Torontonians often do the practice without realizing the name for it.
One resident named Roberto told Now Toronto they lived paycheque-to-paycheque, so they often tried to save money where they could, and put some in savings.
“We try to save some things,” he said. “[For] streaming, I try to use one month, then cancel, then use another month.”
Others said they still saved small amounts here and there, while also indulging in sweet treats and drinks.
What are the experts saying?
Jessica Moorhouse, an author and financial educator, told Now Toronto she’s never heard of the term “soft saving” before the social media popularization, but knows of the practice.
“The idea behind soft saving is the anti-aggressive saving that we’ve probably seen over the past couple decades, where if you want to save, you’ve got to make a lot of sacrifices,” Moorhouse said.
It’s a movement that combats the existing FIRE approach: Financial Independence, Retire Early, or as some simply call it, hustle culture.
“[It’s] trying to introduce the concept of more balance where we are kind of taking care of our financial goals, saving for the future, or whatever those goals are, but also not to the detriment of our mental health, physical health, our nutrition, our happiness and enjoyment out of life,” Moorhouse added.
Moorhouse said the concept is definitely specific to younger generations, such as Gen Z, and wasn’t one she ever heard from her older clients.
“The overall concept of creating balance with your financial management strategies has definitely been on the up and up, especially since post-covid,” she said. “Over the years, because there’s been a big kind of mindset shift on mental health, especially balance and just lifestyle. We’re seeing that across the board…”
Moorhouse added that hustle culture was more of the trend pre-COVID, since around 2016. Since the pandemic, the culture has seen a shift into a more relaxed lifestyle.
“People were being vocal [saying] ‘I don’t actually think that is the right path,’” Moorhouse said.
“It’s a bit of a trade off,” Preet Banerjee, the founder of online financial tool MoneyGaps, told Now Toronto. “It’s sort of trying to strike a balance, where you’re living a little bit of your life today while also saving a little bit for the future.”
Banerjee said its popularization was not for the most positive of reasons.
“When they feel [they are close to buying a home], they do tighten their belt, they save a little bit more towards building up that down payment, they reduce their spending a little bit, and they kind of stretch to get into that goal,” he said. “And then there are people who have given up, and they think that there is no way that my generation is going to own a house and because of that, they start to spend a lot more, they save less, and they take more risk, because they basically said, what’s the point?”
In a report by TD Bank, they said 59 per cent of Gen Z Canadians were relying on their savings account to cope with financial pressures.
“Balancing competing saving and spending priorities can be challenging,” Pat Giles, Vice President, Saving & Investing Journey at TD, wrote. “It’s possible to enjoy the present while also investing and saving for the future.
Moorhouse said she believes balance is a really important component to financial saving that doesn’t often get talked about.
“I think it would be more reckless long term to not have any balance. I have seen it with the FIRE community,” Moorhouse said. “…more people I talked to regretted taking such an aggressive path.”
Moorhouse said those who retired early in their 40s and 50s become bored most of the time, and were unsure of what was next afterward.
“A lot of them go back to work or they go back to school and these are things you could have done while not taking such an aggressive, quick path.”
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What’s the best way to save while still living your best life?
Despite saving very little, a report by CPP Investments shared that 63 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 24 were feeling anxiety behind making poor financial decisions.
Both Moorhouse and Banerjee agree that saving something is better than nothing.
“It’s never too late,” Moorhouse said. “Your 20s, especially, are such a key decade when it comes to everything, but especially your finances. So, even if you’re like, 29 and you’re like ‘Oh shoot, I don’t have any money in my bank account. I’ve just been living paycheck to paycheck, and it’s been working for me but now all my friends are buying houses. They’re thinking of getting married and having kids. I am nowhere near that. What can I do?’ It’s not too late.”
“I think [soft saving is] good because that can actually inspire people to do more,” Banerjee said. “Once you’ve started saving for the first time, and maybe you [then] automate your savings… it’s a very powerful strategy, because after a year, you sit back and realise ‘wow, I’ve saved maybe a couple of thousand dollars.’”
Banerjee said one of the best ways to get started is to start budgeting and tracking expenses once every few months. He said the main focus should be looking at what is already automated to come out of your account.
“For the readers who are cringing at the thought of sitting down for an hour and running through their expenses for the last couple months, start with this one first, do a subscription audit,” he said. “Because, as we have moved more into a subscription based economy, we pay a monthly fee for everything these days.”
He advised to get started on what’s not necessary to put more money in your pocket, while also still enjoying your free time with the subscriptions important to you.
He also added that taking out the savings at the beginning of the pay cycle was key to spending less.
“If you start the month by just taking a little bit off the top, it’s the same mentality [as spending less], and that warning sign of an approaching zero comes a little bit sooner. So, people adapt,” Banerjee said. “If you can sort of change your environment, you’ll find that you will naturally adapt to that different spending level that you set for yourself.”