The Cuban Malia Llovet shared on TikTok five habits she practices to keep her finances under control, in a video about personal financial awareness posted this past Monday that generated a wide response from her community.
Llovet presents his decisions as personal choices, not as criticisms of those who act differently, and he frames them under a clear premise: to prevent small recurring expenses from eroding the budget without one realizing it.
The first of her habits is not going to beauty salons. "I don't allow something like getting my nails done or fixing my hair to become a fixed expense," she explains. Instead, she does everything at home and bought a gel lamp, which she describes as "a one-time expense, a unique investment."
The second habit is never ordering food delivery, under any circumstances. "I never, ever order food delivery. I do not allow myself to cross the line that if someday I don't feel like cooking, there's the possibility of bringing the restaurant home," she states.
The third is to avoid impulse purchases using the so-called 24-hour rule. "If I see something I like, instead of buying it on impulse, I wait 24 hours. If the next day I still feel the urge to buy it or I talk to myself and realize that I really needed it, then I go ahead and buy it," she details. This technique is supported by consumer behavior specialists: 80% of impulse purchases disappear after that waiting period.
The fourth habit is not paying for entertainment platform subscriptions on a regular basis. Llovet only pays for the month when he wants to watch a specific series and then cancels. "I always try to be aware that I'm paying regularly because sometimes people pay for subscriptions that they then forget about," he warns.
The fifth is not to chase the latest technology. Llovet kept his iPhone 11 for over four years before switching to an iPhone 17 Pro, despite new models being released every year.
This type of content is part of a well-established trend among Cubans abroad who share their saving strategies on social media. A Cuban in the U.S. questioned whether his compatriots came to spend or to save in a video that went viral in February 2025. That same year, another Cuban creator shared the secret to prospering as a couple by combining incomes to save and invest. In February of this year, a Cuban in the Netherlands explained how she went from living in a basement without windows to buying her own house in four years thanks to her strict control of expenses.
Llovet closed his video with a quote from the book The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel: "The one who has the most isn’t necessarily the happiest, but the one who learns to be happy with little."
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