5 Habits That Are Draining the Money from Your Wallet
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It’s amazing how much money we waste on small and insignificant things. We are not all naturally frugal, but there are some things that we can all do to reduce our monthly spending on insignificant stuff.
Let’s go through some common stuff that drains people’s budgets and see what we can do to prevent them from making unnecessary holes in your budgets.
Ordering Food
Not everyone knows how to cook, but if all you do is order food, the costs tend to stack up. You are paying for delivery; you are paying for the preparation and for the ingredients. On top of that, you don’t get to pick the quality of the ingredients. Yes, you are saving time, but this will take a big chunk of your budget.
Solution: Learning to cook is a process, but it’s also very rewarding. It’s a good skill to have, and it lets you have more control over your diet. This means you know what you are eating, you can control your budget better, you can stock up for longer periods, and you bring value into relationships you get into, be you a man or a woman.
Online Shopping
Oh, boy. This is a big problem since if you are constantly looking at things to buy; you are always gonna find something you want to buy. Online shopping is a very deep hole, and exploration is a part of the thrill. There are also a lot of novelty items that are aimed at people with certain interests, and with all the online marketing options and personalized offers, it can be a real challenge not to buy fun but ultimately useless items online.
Solution: Don’t memorize your credit card information in online shops of any kind. If it’s easy to make impulsive purchases, you are going to make impulsive purchases. Another good approach is to sleep on it. For example, you’re done with browsing some items; you put some of them in the shopping cart, so now you just save them for tomorrow — this way, you give yourself a chance to make a rational decision instead of simply just falling for the thrill of shopping.
Smoking
We’re not going to go into why smoking is bad for you — most people smoking today know it’s bad and are smokers despite that fact. We’re here to talk about the impact of smoking on your budget. An average smoker goes through between half a pack and two packs a day. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in the USA is $6.28. You do your own math with your own particular smoking schedule and brand of choice — the average for one pack a day at the average price amounts to $2292.2 per year. Now, this can vary widely based on your brand of choice and where you live, as tobacco taxes and cigarette prices are different from city to city, let alone from state to state.
Solution: Our primary advice is to stop smoking, but if you can’t, vaping is a legitimate option. It is far less harmful than smoking, although it isn’t exactly healthy. We’re here to talk about the price more than anything else, though. Getting an affordable and rechargeable Smok Novo Bar AL6000, for example, is an easy way to get into it. Disposable vape pens are great as they don’t require any effort on the part of the user when it comes to changing e-liquids or cleaning the device. And overall, vaping is a cheaper alternative.
Cafes and Restaurants
Sure, they are cool, and you should frequent them every once in a while. Still, if you are used to going to your favorite coffee shop for a hot cup every day, that’s going to impact your spending. The same goes for restaurants. This is especially true if these are hip places that are popular at the moment because they are always overpriced.
Solution: Do this on occasion! Don’t make cafes and restaurants a part of your everyday routine if you don’t have the budget to support the habit. If you really like coffee, you are better off investing in a quality coffee maker and making a hobby out of it — it’s worth it in the long run. Restaurants for special occasions and dates — drop the habit of having regular meals in expensive places.
Trendy Purchases
New iPhones, the latest sneakers, and cosmetics are just some of the examples of products that people buy just because there’s a current trend. We understand that it is sometimes difficult to resist the hype, but these items tend to cost a lot. After all, the bigger the demand, the higher the cost.
Solution: First, you might want to get your vanity under control as people tend to make these purchases as a status trip more than as a necessity. Second, reiterate to yourself that these items drop in cost MASSIVELY when the hype runs out, so if you really want to get them, just wait for a bit, and you can buy them at a better price. Who knows, maybe you even lose interest altogether after a while.
There are quite a few more common things that can put a dent in your budget. A general tip we’d like to leave you with is “keep track of your spending”. When you know where and how much money you are losing on a monthly basis, you’ll find it a lot easier to start eliminating unnecessary spending.
Being frugal with your money is a continuous effort. It’s also an addictive endeavor once you get going, as our minds really love to optimize things, and watching those monthly savings go up is an excellent way to get that satisfaction. You know what they say “Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
