Wednesday, October 11, 2017
13 Wastes of Your Money
We all waste our money, every day of our lives. It is almost impossible not to overspend for certain things in life. It is my wish to reduce this waste as much as possible through better spending habits. I also wish to achieve a good work-life balance and not live like a hermit. Not being a hypocrite is also a wish of mine despite the first 3 sentences of this post. I do believe there is a happy zone that exists between over-spending and living in a hole in the ground. I like the finer things in life as well as enjoying time with family and friends. However, I do enjoy getting value for my money. Nothing makes me cringe more than that not happening. In this post, I will discuss 13 wastes of your hard earned money. In my opinion, there is no excuse for not saving even a little bit of money every month. Cutting these out of your life may help you do just that.
1) Credit Card Fees
What a racket! I give you a product that promotes consumerism, can lead you to financial ruin, destroys many lives, oh and by the way, I charge you to have it every year. Why on earth would anyone pay to use a credit card? If you have a balance, work to bring that down so you don’t pay any more interest. As for annual fees, they can go kick rocks. I will never, ever, ever, pay an annual fee for a credit card. Ever! There are enough no-fee cards out there to cover the need.
2) Debt Reduction Help
Paying someone to help you out of debt seems to defeat the purpose in my opinion. There are many free services in every community that help people understand and work through their debt problems. If only they were promoted as heavily as the Credit Cards…. What’s in your wallet? Anyways, be wary of anyone who tries to charge you for debt-reduction help. Even I give debt-reduction help for free!
Managing Debt – Government of Canada Website
3) Impulse Buying
There is a reason there are massive check-out lines at Best Buy, where you can grab anything from batteries to DVDs, to the latest anti-virus software and throw it in your shopping cart. They know that you waiting in that line for 5 minutes might lead you to buy something that you didn’t intend on buying. Avoid impulse buying and the places that promote it like the whole damn mall! I hate the mall with a passion. When I am in the mall I feel gross and uncomfortable. You should too if you don’t want your money to evaporate.
4) Bank Accounts
Much like your credit card, checking accounts should be free. Why on earth would a bank charge you to use something as simple as a checking account? They are leveraged sometimes 10-20 times their internal capital. That means that they lend out 10-20 times more money than they have within their walls. The rate for the money loaned out is far more than the rate they give you in interest. They can give you a free checking account in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and aim to not pay anything to the bank that you don’t have to. They are rich enough!
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5) Costly Gym Memberships
I’m all for being healthy and working out, but if you are not using your gym membership then why do you have it? Spending $40-$50 a month adds up to around $500 a year. If you aren’t going more than once a week than you are wasting your money. If being physically fit is important to you, then you will use this membership fully. If not, focus on doing things yourself to be healthy like running, push-ups, and yoga.
6) Book and DVD’s
Remember the Library? It is not just a place where homeless people play chess. They actually have books there still. You know, books, made of paper. Place the one you want on backorder and pay nothing for it. There are also many versions of the books or movies you want online. Even YouTube has full movies on it. These items should go the way of the CD and 8-track cassette.
7) Buying a Pet
Paying for a pure breed pet is a waste of money. Unless you can trace the lineage of the animal you can’t be sure of its pedigree. You can also go to the shelter and get an amazing pet for free. You save a life and get to feel good about yourself. If that isn’t good enough for you look online for free pets. Take half an hour and I’m sure you will find a few.
8) Spoiling Your Kid’s
Buying your kids everything they want produces less than desirable qualities in them. First of all, you will end up broke. Second of all, you are more likely to raise a bratty punk. I hate to sound like an old man, but I wasn’t given everything I wanted and it made me appreciate what I had. It should be a goal of every parent to raise good, humble children. Buying them everything they want will not accomplish that.
Sponge Bob Air Jordan’s
9) Online Credit Reports
This one falls into the: “Why spend money on something you can get for free,” category. Online credit report services are a scam in my opinion. As long as you pay your bills on time and don’t get into debt you will be fine. If someone steals your identity it can be rectified. Don’t waste money on this new industry that preys on your fears. There are plenty of free credit report services online.
Credit Karma – Free Credit Score and Reporting
10) Designer Clothes
Nobody, absolutely nobody, gives a crap what label is on your clothes. Chances are, the people that do are people you don’t want in your life anyway. If your clothes are clean and fit well you will look great. Personal hygiene is far more important than fashion; invest some time in that instead of shopping at the mall. The same factory in Bangladesh that made your designer jeans also made the ones they sell at the grocery store.
Designer jeans made the same as ones that cost 20X Less – Daily Mail
11) Drugs and Alcohol
Besides being bad for your health they are also expensive! I have met very few people who blow lots of money on these things and have full bank accounts. If you enjoy having a drink at night or a glass of wine with dinner, that is fine. Just consume in moderation and make sure you are taking care of all your other obligations as well.
12) Baby Junk
There is a whole industry based on bilking new mothers out of their money for fancy baby crap. For centuries babies were dressed in nothing but a diaper and somehow these babies managed to grow old and become our parents and grandparents. Now all of a sudden you need Nike shoes for a 6-month-old? Do yourself a favor and invest in something worthwhile, like their college education.
13) Shipping Charges
If a product is really worth your time and effort they will pay the shipping charges. Chances are if you have to pay for shipping the product is either junk or something you don’t really need. How something could cost $20 and ship for $20 more blows my mind. If you really need something, look for it online then go pick it up locally. Doing so also supports local business which makes all our communities richer in the process.
Consumerism is the Bain of my existence and everyone should work on having that same mentality. That doesn’t mean I’m cheap. I have no tolerance for cheapness. What I am, is frugal and in constant search of value. If it doesn’t help my life in some sort of way, I am not interested. Since developing this mentality my bank account has been looking a lot better. This is definitely not a coincidence.
“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.” – Ogden Nash
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Email – joe@budgetboss.ca
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