Pokušavamo trošiti manje novca na sitnice, da ne bismo sve potrošili prvog vikenda.

In Croatian, after pokušavati / pokušati (to try), the most normal pattern is:

pokušavati + infinitive

So:

Pokušavamo trošiti manje novca = We are trying to spend less money

Using da + present tense after pokušavati is not the standard choice here. For learners, the safest pattern is:

• pokušavam učiti = I’m trying to study
• pokušavaju pomoći = They’re trying to help
• pokušavamo trošiti = We’re trying to spend

So trošiti is simply the infinitive that follows pokušavamo.

This is a very important aspect pair:

• trošiti = to spend, to be spending (imperfective)
• potrošiti = to spend up, to use up completely (perfective)

In the sentence:

• Pokušavamo trošiti manje novca...
  means they are trying to keep their spending lower in general. This is an ongoing process, so the imperfective trošiti fits.

• ...da ne bismo sve potrošili...
  means so that we wouldn’t spend all of it / use it all up. Here the idea is a completed result, so the perfective potrošili is used.

So the contrast is very natural:

• ongoing activity: trošiti
• complete result: potrošiti

Because after words like manje, Croatian normally uses the genitive.

So:

• manje novca = less money
• više vremena = more time
• puno ljudi = a lot of people

Here novca is the genitive singular of novac.

This is one of those patterns you should get used to as a chunk:

• manje + genitive
• više + genitive
• puno + genitive

So manje novca is exactly what you would expect.

Sitnice here is accusative plural after the preposition na.

The phrase trošiti novac na nešto means:

to spend money on something

So:

• na hranu = on food
• na odjeću = on clothes
• na sitnice = on little things / small unnecessary items / trifles

The noun sitnica literally means a small thing, but in this kind of sentence sitnice often has the sense of:

• minor purchases
• little non-essential things
• odds and ends

So na sitnice is not just physically small objects; it often suggests small, probably unimportant purchases.

Here da ne bismo introduces a purpose clause:

so that we wouldn’t... / in order not to...

So the full second part:

da ne bismo sve potrošili prvog vikenda

means:

so that we wouldn’t spend everything in the first weekend

This is a very common Croatian structure for expressing purpose, especially negative purpose:

• Radim više da bismo imali dovoljno.
  I’m working more so that we would have enough.

• Štedimo da ne bismo ostali bez novca.
  We’re saving so that we wouldn’t run out of money.

Even though it contains bismo, in English it is often best translated as so that we don’t / won’t / wouldn’t, depending on context.

Because bismo is a separate auxiliary form, and the negation ne stays separate from it:

• bih
• bi
• bismo
• biste
• bi

So:

• bismo = we would
• ne bismo = we would not

This is different from some other Croatian forms that are written together, but with the conditional auxiliary, the standard spelling is separate:

• ne bih
• ne bi
• ne bismo

So da ne bismo potrošili is the correct spelling.

Because the verb form agrees with the implied subject mi (we), and the masculine plural form is the default when the group is:

• mixed gender, or
• unspecified, or
• not explicitly all female

So:

• mi bismo potrošili = we would spend
• mi bismo potrošile = we would spend, if the speakers are all female

In most textbook examples, if nothing tells you the group is all female, you will usually see the masculine plural form:

potrošili

Here sve means everything or, more naturally in context, all of it.

Because the sentence is already talking about money, Croatian can leave the noun unstated:

• sve potrošiti = spend everything / spend it all

So in context:

da ne bismo sve potrošili
= so that we wouldn’t spend it all

This is very natural in Croatian. The object novac does not need to be repeated.

Prvog vikenda is genitive singular, and here it is used as a time expression meaning something like:

• during the first weekend
• on the first weekend

This kind of genitive can appear with expressions of time.

So:

• prvog dana = on the first day
• idućeg tjedna = next week
• ovog ljeta = this summer
• prvog vikenda = on/during the first weekend

In this sentence it means they do not want to spend all their money as soon as the first weekend comes.

Sometimes learners expect a bare accusative-like time phrase because English says the first weekend, but in Croatian prvog vikenda is a very natural way to express during/on the first weekend.

A form like prvi vikend would not sound right in this sentence in standard usage.

If you wanted a different structure, you could say something like:

• za prvi vikend in some contexts, depending on the meaning
• but here prvog vikenda is the idiomatic choice for time

So for this sentence, it is best to learn:

potrošiti sve prvog vikenda = spend everything on/during the first weekend

Croatian word order is flexible, but clitics like bismo have placement rules. In this clause:

• da introduces the clause
• ne bismo comes early, as is normal for clitics and auxiliaries
• sve appears before the main participle potrošili

So:

da ne bismo sve potrošili

is a very natural order.

You may see some variation in Croatian word order for emphasis, but this version is neutral and standard.

For a learner, the safest pattern is:

da ne bismo + object + participle

Example:

• da ne bismo novac izgubili is possible in a marked context,
• but da ne bismo izgubili novac is more neutral.

Likewise here:

• da ne bismo sve potrošili is the normal, neutral wording.

It is a very common and natural way, but not the only possible one.

You may also see:

kako ne bismo...

This can also mean so that we wouldn’t / in order not to.

For example:

• Štedimo kako ne bismo ostali bez novca.

That said, in everyday Croatian, da ne bismo is extremely common and natural, so the sentence as given sounds perfectly normal.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Croatian present tense often covers both:

• we try
• we are trying

So:

Pokušavamo trošiti manje novca

can be understood as:

• We try to spend less money, or
• We’re trying to spend less money

In this sentence, English would probably most naturally use We’re trying..., because it sounds like an ongoing effort or current habit change.

It sounds like a general strategy connected to a recurring situation, but the grammar points to a specific time frame within each relevant period.

The first clause:

Pokušavamo trošiti manje novca na sitnice
suggests a general habit or ongoing effort.

The second clause:

da ne bismo sve potrošili prvog vikenda
describes the unwanted result they are trying to avoid: spending all the money right away, during the first weekend.

So the overall feeling is:

• a general attempt,
• aimed at avoiding a typical bad outcome.

In natural English, it could be something like: We’re trying to spend less money on little things so we don’t blow it all the first weekend.

Yes, often a little bit.

Sitnice can be neutral, just small things, but in spending contexts it often implies:

• little unnecessary purchases
• trivial items
• things that do not really matter much

So this sentence suggests not just small purchases, but small purchases that add up and waste money.

That nuance is part of why the sentence sounds natural: they are trying to control minor spending so they do not run out of money too quickly.