Things We Waste Money On
In the News, Save Money July 18th, 2009
I found an article at Yahoo Shine about 10 everyday things people commonly waste money on. The article is short, so I recommend you click on the link to check it out. However, below is the complete list:
- Extended Warranties
- Gym Fees
- Fast-Food Runs
- Cell Phones Apps and Ringtones
- Fees (Late, Over Limit or Worse)
- Landline Extras
- Rental Car Insurance
- Computer Software
- Unlimited Texting
- Bottled Water
Like I said, this is a pretty good list and if you are spending money on any of the 10, I recommend you reevaluate whether or not the expense is warranted. If I had to guess, most of you would have a hard time justifying any of the above.
Although this list is pretty comprehensive, below I have included a few things that are not on it. Some of these may be no-brainers to you, but hopefully some will make you think about your own situation.
- Morning Latte: You see this one a lot on these types of lists, but it deserves being repeated. That $3-$4 you spend every morning at Starbucks will likely cost you over $1000 every year. Thus, I would advise purchasing a coffe maker and start brewing your morning fix at home.
- DVD Collections: I find it odd people actually purchase DVDs, given that you can rent them for $1 at a kiosk or free from a library (see my article on cheap rentals). At $15-$25 each you would have to watch one 15-25 times or more to make purchasing a better value. Most of the people I know may watch a newly purchased DVD 1-2 times, lend it out to friends, and then add it to their collection, where it sits over the years collecting dust.
- Premium Movie Channels: Personally, I believe paying for cable or satellite service is in itself a waste of money. However, paying for premium channels on top of that is just sinful. Again, movies can be rented for free or cheap. If you spend enough time on your couch watching movies to make a premium movie package the better value, then you are wasting something more precious than money – your life!
- Books: This is kinda like the DVD example above. I know people with shelves and closets full of books that they had purchased. This is ridiculous given that almost every community has a library where you can rent them for free. Does anyone really read the same book enough times to warrant a purchase? Only on a couple of occasions have I ever read the same book twice, let alone multiple times.
- Personal Trainer: This one really bugs me. Unless you are a professional athlete or bodybuilder, please stop wasting your money on these people. Routines are readily available online and if you stay active and eat healthy (as you should), staying in shape won’t be a problem. Many of the people I know that hire personal trainers seem to do so for motivational reasons. If you are not motivated to improve your health, that is something to work on seperately and not pay someone $25/hour to do for you.
- Smoking: Here’s one of the big ones. Smoking 1 pack/day at $6 per pack equals $2190 annually that you’ve puffed away. That’s not even considering the increased medical costs that both you and the American taxpayer will have to eventaully fork over when it starts to kill you (which it will).
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July 19th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Great post. The only one of those items that I am guilty of is going to the gym. I have trended toward always living below my means with the thought if things get REALLY bad, I won’t be dependent on a lot of the trappings that society finds itself in. However, I must say I eschew tobacco and alcohoL, have the standard cheapest cell phone, don’t even believe in the necessity of all the electronic gadgets that come out of every hear. People want to know why I don’t have a Blackberry, or Ipod, or whatever, and my question back to them is WHY DO I NEED IT?
July 19th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I agree with avoiding all of society’s excessives. Of the ten listed, I think numbers 1, 5, and 10 are the worst.
July 19th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Speaking of the alcohol, I am going to be experimenting with some home beer brewing in the next couple of months and write about my experiences. If I stop posting, you know the still blew up:)
July 19th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
bottled water is next to worthless and costs much more per gallon than does gasoline
July 19th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I couldn’t agree more. That is not only in regards to costs, but also in terms of environmental and social consequences as well.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:58 am
The smoking (or addiction) one I agree with cash wise. However, on average, smokers die many years before non-smokers and actually cost less medically over a lifetime than healthy non-smokers that live much longer (in the US anyway). So, it is cheaper for “you” to pay for a smoker’s medical care vs a non-smoker’s (in the long run).
July 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Hmm… I never thought about it that way. I would guess a smoker’s end-of-life care would be much greater than that of someone who died of natural causes.
Thank you for the input!
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
people who have pursued good health practices all of their lives will indeed, statistically, live much long than people who have lots of bad habits. these healthy senior citizens tend to have what is called “compressed morbidity” in that they tend to be relatively healthy well into their old age, and tend to become moribund during a short end of life period, therefore, actually using less intensive medical care, and dying off after relatively short illness periods. In addition, they are not polluting the planet with cigarette smoke, littering the streets with cigarette butts, etc.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I couldn’t image dying of lung cancer would be cheap?