30 ways you are wasting money

Even if you stick to your budget every month, you could still be wasting money. To save more, cut down on these 30 typical, everyday money-sucks.

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Overpaying for your cable package

Cable and internet rates are negotiable. Do some research and find out what your provider’s competitors are offering—chances are, if you call your cable company and say you’re thinking of taking your business elsewhere, they’ll knock a few dollars off your bill (Trim is an online tool that some people also find useful for this). Or, you could always switch to Hulu, Netflix, or another streaming service and dramatically reduce your monthly costs.

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Overpaying for insurance

Have you carefully analyzed the insurance you pay for every month? If you can raise the deductible on your health or auto insurance wisely (by ensuring, for example, that you have an emergency fund to pay for anything below it), you might be able to stop unnecessarily wasting money.

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Overpaying for financial advice

How much do you pay your financial advisor every year? Do you even know? If not, it’s time to start digging into the fee structure of your investment portfolio and find out. “Costs for financial advice matter, because they erode how much money a client can accumulate over time,” writes Liz Weston in NerdWallet. Have a frank conversation with your advisor about why she charges what she does, and judge for yourself if her services are worth the money.

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Buying name-brand products

Don’t buy into fancy packaging and branding—generic products are usually just as good as their brand-name counterparts, and you could save up to 50% just by choosing these options.

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Paying ATM and bank fees

Do you make the effort to only use ATMs associated with your bank? If not, you’re wasting money. You should also assess the fees associated with your bank account—are you constantly paying a monthly fee because your balance is below the minimum balance? Are you paying overdraft fees? Rethink how you use your bank account and make reducing or eliminating these fees a priority.

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Paying credit card interest

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Paying too much tax

If you do your taxes yourself but aren’t well-educated on the tax credits and deductions you’re entitled to, you could be leaving money on the table—money that you could use to pay a tax professional to help you file and ultimately make your life easier.

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Neglecting to plan your meals

Are you making a three-figure grocery trip more than once a week? Start planning your meals in advance, and stick to your grocery list to avoid purchasing a bunch of appealing extras while you’re browsing the aisles. If you buy in bulk, make sure you aren’t purchasing more perishable food than you need—if you are, you’re not only wasting food, but cash.

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Buying bottled water

Little expenses add up, and this is an absurdly easy one to fix: just start filling up a reusable water bottle. If bottles or cans of soda are your vice, try cutting back to not only save money, but your health.

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Poorly gauging your smartphone usage

Pay attention to how much cellphone data you use per month, by installing an app that tracks your usage. Once you know approximately how much you need, enroll for a plan that provides a little more, so that you aren’t slapped with any hefty overage charges. Use Wi-Fi whenever you can to ensure you stay well under your limit.

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Neglecting to comparison-shop

Comparison shopping, whether in-store or online, is the only way to know you’re getting the best price on something (and if you don’t bother to do it, you’re probably not).

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Keeping memberships and subscriptions you don’t fully use

If you’ve got a fancy gym membership but only go four times a month, you’re wasting money. The same applies if you subscribe to three magazines and a newspaper but don’t have time to read them all, or if you get subscription boxes for beauty products, fitness gear, or any number of things but don’t really savour and use the products inside. Take a hard look at the things that arrive on your doorstep or get charged to your credit card every month, and pare down where you can.

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Using too many disposable products

“I’ve saved thousands of dollars by not spending my money on disposable products. By being a sustainable consumer, I invest in quality, not in trash,” said personal finance expert Kerry Taylor in a TEDx talk. “Why are we throwing our money in the trash?” Replace paper towels with cloth towels, disposable diapers with cloth diapers, disposable paper plates with regular ceramic dishes, coffee pods with alternatives, and so on.

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Living in a house that’s bigger than your budget or lifestyle

Are you spending a maximum one-third of your budget on housing costs? If not, it might be time to consider moving—because no matter how many lattes you cut from your budget, if you’re blowing the rest of it on a home that’s outside your means, you could find it very hard to reduce your overall financial stress. Likewise, if you’re empty-nesting, you might be wasting money on a house that’s too big for your needs.

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Not brewing your own coffee

If your Starbucks routine includes truly savouring a cup of gourmet coffee over a newspaper or a deep conversation with friends, enjoy it—it’s one of life’s great pleasures. But, on the other hand, if you’re mindlessly buying coffee from a store to avoid having to brew it yourself at home or work? You’re essentially flushing money away.

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Choosing individually-packaged foods

Have you ever compared the price of a pre-cut veggie tray to how much it would cost just to buy some vegetables and cut them up? Don’t spend money on the extra plastic packaging, take 10 minutes to cut up some carrots and celery, et voilà—veggie tray.

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Buying household cleaning products

Lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda—if you’re on a budget, don’t waste your money on typical cleaning products, and instead make your own out of simple household ingredients. Try these recipes from Good Housekeeping.

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Dining out too frequently

In a survey of 2,000 Americans in 2016, nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they waste money on too-frequent restaurant meals. In fact, this was the number-one money waster regardless of age or gender.

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Buying lots of gear for your hobbies

Have you suddenly decided you want to take up amateur photography? Skiing? Windsurfing? Before you go nuts and blow a couple thousand bucks on all the fancy gear you’ll need for these activities, try renting it for a while. Take your time developing your skills and give yourself time to find cheaper options: can you buy used gear? Are there things you can do without? And wait to see if your passions die down—they might, and if they do, you won’t have a bunch of useless stuff sitting in your garage.

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Purchasing extended warranties

Many credit card companies offer extended warranties, which is one of the benefits of using them to make a purchase (the others include rewards points and the opportunity to build good credit). Check the features of your cards, and don’t waste money buying product warranties from retailers.

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Not waiting before making a purchase

Anytime you’re tempted to spend over a certain limit on something (say, $50 or $100) give yourself a mandatory waiting period. Tell yourself you can have the item if you’re still thinking about it in two to three days.

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Buying expensive makeup and skincare

Be cognizant of how and where you shop for cosmetics: are they impulsive purchases? Are you adding to an ever-growing collection? If so, you can probably stop shopping. Budget or drugstore makeup brands can often work just as well as high-end options (do your research first) and you should be doubtful of any skincare product that essentially promises to transport you back in time.

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Movie-theatre popcorn

Movie-theatre popcorn is marked up 1,275 per cent. If that sounds ridiculous to you, it might be time to consider skipping it.

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Buying fast fashion

Discovering you’ve wasted money on cheap clothes that’ve fallen apart after only a few washes is disappointing and frustrating. Candice Elliott of Listen Money Matters shares a useful compromise here: instead of hitting up H and M and Old Navy for all of your clothing, pick your battles. Pay attention to quality; for jeans and shoes, especially, you should buy higher-end, because they’ll last much longer and hold together better. But for party clothes or things that don’t get as much use? Feel free to shop the lower-end of the market if that’s what you prefer to do.

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Paying for shipping

If you’re shopping online at a large retailer, see if there’s an option for free shipping to a store near you, rather than paying for shipping to your doorstep—you could save dozens every month just by travelling a little to pick up your packages.

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Wasting water and electricity

You know this already, but it bears repeating: when you’re at home, keep the lights off in rooms you aren’t using and turn the heat (or air conditioning) down as much as you can. It’s not only good for the environment, but your pocketbook.

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Commercial baby food

If you’re a new parent, don’t waste your money on store-bought baby food when you can easily make your own using steamed peas or carrots and a potato masher.

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Being disorganized

Losing things and having to replace them, wasting gas to make a second trip to the grocery store because you forgot something, neglecting to check your inventory (i.e. your pantry or closet) before buying something and later realizing you already have it—all of these side effects of disorganization cost you money and time.

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Indulging in your vices

Vice is extremely expensive. Cigarettes, alcohol addiction, gambling, compulsive shopping, recreational drugs—these are serious addictions that require intervention, and it’s worth spending as much money as necessary on cessation aids or therapy to put them to rest. Over the long term, you’ll save a lot (not to mention drastically improve your health and life).

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Paying full price

Everything goes on sale at some point, so plan your purchases to make the most of these discounts! Shop the sale racks for clothes, pay attention to grocery store promotions, and then take yourself on a trip (during the off- or shoulder season) with all the money you’ve saved.

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