Five Ways We All Waste Money

We’re all guilty of wasting money from time to time. It happens. However, most of us aren’t even realizing all the times in a week we’re wastefully spending. Now, remember what this post is trying to do is to help you realize a few ways you could be wasting your money. Just because you think you’re living frugally, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Most of these money wasters are habits from being tired, overworked and stressed. So when go through these tips, try to think of ways to apply them to your life and how they might work for you.

Let’s break down the Five Ways We All Waste Money:

Coffee Runs. You might find yourself in the drive-thru line at Starbucks a little too often these days. Especially this time of year can be hectic with work schedules, school commitments, activities, and so much more. Even if you’re justifying your coffee or drink habit because you’re using change to pay or building reward points or whatever, you might need to adjust how often you’re hitting up your local favorite.

You may even find that you’re not frequenting your favorite coffee shop or smoothie place during the week, but on the weekends you are. Usually the weekends are kind of like a special treat. Most work days you’re rushing around to get the kids dropped off and get to work on time, so you don’t actually have time to treat yourself. However, the weekends are a whole new game.

For me, this isn’t waste isn’t specifically coffee. I love myself a good fountain diet mountain dew from the local gas station. It’s delicious!

Fast Food. You might find fast food as a comfort on those days you just didn’t have time to pack your lunch or those nights where you just can’t fathom cooking dinner. It’s okay, we’ve all been there. But we need to plan a little bit better and buy some easy to prepare meals to help us in those times.

I am so guilty, guilty, guilty of using fast food as a crutch. I have a serious love of fast food – I know how unhealthy it is, trust me, I’ve done the research. But it’s just so darn convenient. On nights I just don’t feel like cooking but don’t want to spend a fortune fast food is usually our go-to. I also have been known to use the drive-thru as the perfect solution to my ‘forgot to pack a lunch’ problem.

I created a no eating out challenge to help us combat those days where we use fast food as an excuse not to stick to our meal plan.

Extra Channels. Have you taken a few minutes to look over your cable package? You should. It can be very eye opening. There a lot of options and package choices that you might not be aware of. Make sure you’re not paying for something you don’t need or won’t use. Plus, you may be able to dwindle down your monthly bill by limiting the number of TVs that have access to satellite.

Not too long ago we canceled our cable and satellite and never looked back.

Leftovers. Are you guilty of wasting food each week? So many families end up throwing away majority of their leftovers week after week. So make sure you’re not wasting your money by throwing away last night’s dinner. A great tip is to dedicate a leftover night in your weekly meal plan. You could also freeze any leftovers for another night if it’s just too much to eat during the week.

Buying Snacks at the gas station. This one might not seem like a big waste, but trust me it is. There are often times when you’re traveling you find yourself snacking from the gas station. You stop to go to the bathroom or fill up with gas and you find the urge to buy a bag of chips or bottle of soda. It’s just so expensive! Make sure you’re planning for your road trips or long drives with packing your own snacks.

BONUS TIP Not price comparing before going grocery shopping. Make sure before you head out the door to go grocery shopping that you’ve done your research. For the most part if you shop at one or two stores you start to learn which ones you should buy what at. For instance, avocados are almost ALWAYS cheaper at Aldi then they are at any other grocery store in our town – I just know that. So I only buy them from there. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t quickly glance the local ads in the paper.

You should either have a price notebook of your most bought items or do research before leaving. If you’re stopping at multiple stores to get everything, then it makes sense to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

What you should implement today to stop wasting money:

I love tracking our spending to make sure we’re not wasting money. I have discovered I tend to spend a lot less if I force myself to track our spending in our monthly budget, which helps us know how much we have left to spend or if I’m simply writing it down on the back of an envelope. It really is an eyeopener to see where our money is going and what purchases maybe we just don’t need.

What are some ways you’re wasting your money? Once you stop to think about it then it really does become an eye opener.

If you need more help in tracking your spending then I highly suggest using a sinking funds spreadsheet – it will give you the freedom to save your extra money for expenses coming up in the future. That way you won’t be stressed when you need new tires for your car or when your home owner’s insurance bill comes in the mail. You’ll be able to plan for all those larger expenses that happen later down the road. Plus, it will give your money a purpose, which means you won’t feel the urge to spend or waste money.