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With inflation and interest rates trending upward in recent years, consumers are struggling, and financial experts are flooding the zone with cost-cutting tips.

As it turns out, many consumers have heard enough.

Most Americans are tired of hearing helpful hints on how to balance their budgets, according to a new consumer survey from Wells Fargo.

Get a side hustle? Get one yourself.

Cancel my streaming services? And miss “White Lotus”?

“There’s just a lot of advice fatigue from consumers,” said Kimberly Palmer, personal finance expert at NerdWallet. “Everyone is tired of hearing the same thing.”

The new 2025 Wells Fargo Money Study, based on surveys of nearly 4,000 Americans, tabulated several pieces of shopworn advice that consumers have grown to hate. Interestingly, the survey also found a few tips that consumers actually appreciate.

Yet, on balance, most cost-cutting tips seemed to annoy more than inspire.

“We can see that people are more attracted to advice that is really plain language and ultimately nonjudgmental,” said Michael Liersch, head of advice and planning at Wells Fargo. “When you look at some of this advice, it has an element of judgment about it. People don’t like to be judged.”

Here, then, is a list of financial tips, in descending order of how deeply they annoy the American consumer.

Get a side hustle

This consumer tip may be the single most hated piece of cost-cutting advice, according to the Wells Fargo study: 44% of consumers said they are sick of hearing it, while only 14% found value in the words.

Much ink has been spilled about America’s burgeoning gig economy. More than one-third of U.S. adults are actively pursuing a side hustle, according to one Bankrate survey. Extra gigs appear to be on the rise.

“I think a lot of people already have one,” Liersch said. “And that’s why they’re sick of hearing about it.”

Side hustle is a jaunty term. But when you urge a consumer to take one, you are telling them to get a second job. And that doesn’t sound so fun.

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Cook at home instead of eating out

Anyone who has settled a tab at a full-service restaurant knows you can save big money by preparing a meal at home.

A pre-pandemic Forbes analysis found that even restaurant delivery is nearly five times more expensive than home cooking.

But going out to eat also happens to be convenient, even fun. In the Wells Fargo survey, 44% of consumers said they are sick of hearing that they should save money by staying home, while 21% found the tip helpful.

“We always talk about how to save money on food,” Palmer said. “The fact is, it’s hard to do when you’re really busy and you don’t have time to plan.”

Stick to a budget

The first rule of living on a budget, according to many finance gurus, is to have a budget in the first place.

Yet, this piece of time-honored consumer advice can sound preachy. In the Wells Fargo survey, 42% of consumers said they’d be happy to never hear it again.

“It’s like when our parents are telling us something,” Liersch said.

Paradoxically, another 27% said budgeting is valuable advice, making it the single most popular tip on the list – and one of the least popular if that makes sense.

Stop buying fancy coffee drinks

Some financial planners call it the “latte factor.” If you stop spending $5 or $6 on store-bought coffee every morning, you’re saving money: as much as $736 a year, by one estimate.

Then again, five bucks a day is not that much money, and people do love their Starbucks: all 29,000 of them.

“No one wants to be shamed for their one habit that makes them feel a little bit happy each day,” Palmer said.

In the Wells Fargo study, 33% of consumers said they hate hearing about the latte factor. Only 11% found the tip helpful.

Pay down debt

American consumers face historic levels of debt. Credit card balances and auto loan payments are pushing many households underwater.

As a piece of financial advice, “pay down debt” is something American consumers seem to love and hate in roughly equal measure. In the Wells Fargo survey, 28% said they’re tired of hearing it, while 25% said they appreciate it.

If you’re one of those who likes the idea of paying down debt, here are some tips on how to start.

Cut back on streaming services

Many American households could save hundreds of dollars a year by ending streaming subscriptions they aren’t using. One writer at Consumer Reports found $840 a year in potential savings. As a cost-cutting technique, it’s low-hanging fruit.

And many consumers are tired of hearing about it: 26% of them, in the Wells Fargo study. Only 9% found the tip helpful.

Pay yourself first

Here, on the Wells Fargo survey, we enter positive territory. “Pay yourself first” is a financial concept that consumers found more appealing than off-putting, on balance. But it was close.

In the report, 23% of consumers said they appreciate the idea of paying yourself first. It means you should save some money before you start to spend. As financial advice, it has an affirming ring. Only 19% of consumers found the idea repellant.

“It definitely is a feel-good thing,” Palmer said. “It sounds like self-care.”

Maximize your retirement contributions

This is the other cost-cutting tip – there were only two – that consumers applauded, on balance, in the Wells Fargo survey.

When you participate in a 401(k) or IRA retirement savings plan, the tip suggests, aim to contribute as much as the rules allow. (If you are wondering, the most you can contribute to a 401(k) in 2025 is $23,500, at least for younger folks.)

In the survey, 20% of consumers said they liked the advice, while 18% said they were sick of hearing it.

And if you’re still reading at this point, allow us to hazard two more words of unsolicited financial advice: employer match.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cost-cutting tips? Consumers have heard enough, thank you.