You are going to lean about habits that are wasting you money and what to do instead.
There are a few things you might be doing right now, that are causing you to waste money. We all do these things but don’t think about how it’s affecting our finances.
These things can be bad habits we have formed or things that we do that has us asking ourselves where is our money going.
Some of the things we waste our money on are things we don't realize we even spent our money on. And this friend can be a problem.
When you have financial issues, when you are trying to save money, pay debt, not paying attention to the little things we do will cost us big!
Here are some things you should stop doing today, like right now because they are costing you money. I can assure you that if you stop doing these things you are going to save money starting today.
So, let’s begin.
6 Most Common Everyday Money Wasting Habits
Water Wasting
You can start by reducing your water waste in your home right now. If you want to keep track of your water use in your home use this water usage calculator to save and money.
You might be throwing your money away if you are doing this:
- Running the dishwasher when is not full.
- Doing laundry with small, half loads instead of full loads.
- Running the tab water to get cool water to drink instead of placing a jug of cold water in the fridge to prevent water waste.
- Using the garbage disposal all the time.
- Taking baths instead of the shower.
- You are not checking for leaks.
- You don’t turn the faucet off while shaving or brushing your teeth.
- Wearing clothes (especially jeans) more than once before washing, unless they get really dirty or stained.
When you start doing some of these things mentioned, you will see a change on your next water bill and you can start saving water today!
Wasting electricity
Just like water you start saving money by reducing the amount of electricity you are consuming. The good news is that some of the things you do right now will help you save money on your next bill.
Are you reading this right now with the radio or television on and nobody watching? You can start saving money by unplugging appliances and other items you don’t use all the time.
You can also clean your vents and make sure your filters are clean. Keep the airflow going in your home by using ceiling fans. Remember that heat rises and keeping the air circulating helps keep the house at a nice temperature.
One important tip when it comes to ceiling fans, when it’s warm your ceiling fans should spin counter-clockwise to push up the hot air. When it’s cold spin the fan clockwise to keep the heat down.
There are so many ways you can cut back on wasting electricity and save money and it all starts by doing what we mentioned above and these tips:
- Turn off the lights
- Use cold water when washing
- Run your large appliances during off-peak time
According to CallMePower, common peak times are the following times:
- Late afternoon to early evening
- Summers & Winters
- Weekdays
- Non-Holidays
Wasting money on Food
When it comes to food there are some money-wasting habits we do every day. Below are some things you need to stop doing to help you save your money.
- You are going out shopping today and not taking a shopping list with you.
- You have no idea what you are going to cook today because you don’t have a menu plan.
- You were planning on grabbing some food and eating out.
- You went to the store today and didn’t use their rewards card.
You didn’t use any money earning apps when you went shopping. Apps such as:
- Ibotta
- Coupon.com App
- Checkout 51
- Shopkick
- Fetch Rewards(use codeDK24Wto earn 4,000 points )
You didn’t look at store sales and decided to just shop.
You went to different stores looking for items and wasted gas in the process.
Bills
If you started your day and didn't look at your bank statement or budget. You decided to pay your bills late or pay minimum payment below is a list of how you have wasted money:
- Late fees
- Paying interest
- Having to pay to get your services back up and running
- Credit score
When you pay bills and not bother to look at how much you are paying and how it is affecting you, you are wasting money. Fees and interest add up and if services get turned off you will have to pay a service fee to have it turn back on.
Check out these posts:
- 4 Financial Challenges Your Entire Family Can Do
- 6 Lazy Ways to Save on Groceries Today!
- The Worst Could Happen: Common Home Insurance Claims to Know
Paying your bills late means your credit score is going to suffer. A low credit score means you are going to pay higher interest and this mean, yes you guessed it, paying more!
Using plastic bags
Believe it or not many places around the country are starting to charge you extra for using plastic bags. They are doing this to make their community greener and they are making money at the same time.
Many retailers are giving discounts when you bring your own reusable bag such as the stores named below:
- Target
- Trader Joe's
- Ralph
- Fred Meyers
- Tom Thumb
- Harris Teeter
- King Soopers
- QRC
- Fry's
- Kroger
- Lowe's Food
- Brookshire
- Food Land
- Reasor's Food
- Sprouts
- Whole Foods
Many other retailers like Aldi will charge you if you need plastic bags.
Coffee
Let's talk about coffee for a minute and how much money we spend on this addiction. I, myself, love coffee but I also know that buying coffee at a local coffee shopcan add up.
Even if you are making coffee at home you can still waste money and without realizing it. If you own a coffee maker chances are you are either making too much coffee and throwing it away, or you are not using reusable filters.
The same thing can be said if you are using a Keurig and not using reusable filters with them. The amount you spend on K-cups can add up and honestly they are not cheap when compared to bagged coffee.
Conclusion
There are many everyday money-wasting habits we do that are costing us a ton of money. If we take the time to analyze our habits and see how much they cost us, we will be able to save money.
A change of habits can save money and something as simple as changing to reusable bags and filters can save us big.
