5 Wasteful Expenses You Can Cut Off When Making Ends Meet

Are you financially struggling to make ends meet? If you are, then it is very likely (although not 100% guaranteed) to be down to the negligent way in which you are spending your hard earned cash. The good thing is that just by making small (sometimes unnoticeable) changes to your spending habits and eliminating those unnecessary expenses (and I am talking about wasteful expenses here), you may find that your life will slowly improve significantly. Here are 5 of the most wasteful ways to spend your cash.

Premium Mobile Plans

Do you realize how much you are voluntarily throwing away on your mobile plan each and every month? No? Well, it is a lot! Much more that you think. Look at this:

  • Firstly, when a phone is listed as ‘free’ with a contract it is NOT actually free. It will actually be incorporated into the cash you pay each and every month for your plan. If you can, purchase that phone on its own and then purchase a plan separately on top of it. You may end up paying a bit more upfront, but over the life of the contract you will be able to save several hundred dollars.
  • Mobile data plans are RIP OFFS. The vast majority of people greatly overestimate the amount of mobile data that they are going to use each and every month. This instantly adds tens of dollars onto your bill each month that you simply do not have to be paying. Crazy! Videos eat up data like potato chips.

Food

I have 3 different issues with food here. You may not agree with them, but I can tell you right now that you are throwing your cash away by following these rules:

  • Fine Dining: We all enjoy a good classy meal every once in a while, right? Of course we do! However, you have absolutely no idea how ‘inflated’ that fine dining experience is. Just go to a standard restaurant that serves a proper meal. The service might be slightly worse, but at least you are not going to be spend tens of dollars more than you have to. There are also no guarantees that expensive restaurants provide better service.
  • Brand products are brilliant, right? Of course they are! However, bear in mind that most of the time you are paying for the name as opposed to the ‘quality’ of the product. Branded product are also usually manufactured by the same people as those manufacturing generic products. You will know this is you are in this line of work. Purchase unbranded items. Your shopping bill will thank you.
  • Takeaway? Waste of money! Purchase a pizza and put it in the oven. It tastes better, it is cheaper, and you don’t have to tip.

Entertainment

You DO NOT have to go out every single week. You really don’t. There are so many things you can do at home to entertain yourself. You have no idea how much cash you are wasting simply because you decided to head to the local bar. Sometimes it is about being seen rather than about being social. If you really must socialize (and this is something that is going to be good to do from time to time) then get your friends to come over to your place. It’s more cozy and there is no risk of a drunk stranger throwing up on you. You can also walk around in comfortable shorts instead of squeezing yourself into those undersized skinny jeans.

You can grab a movie on Netflix, crack open a couple of beers, and have a fantastic time (you will probably get three or four beers for the price that you would be paying at your local club or bar, so nice little saving there!) This is going to be just as fun. You also do not have to worry about people hitting on you all of the time, and of course, you are not going to have to deal with poor quality music (unless you are actually a fan of Madonna) and all of that smoke!

Insurance

Ok, you need insurance, that is a given. However, did you know that by not shopping around for the best possible rate you are actually doing yourself a massive disservice? I don’t care what insurance plan you have. If you have not shopped around then you are NOT getting the best possible price. This business is all about charging more for the same thing found somewhere else. Only those who are too lazy to find out what is available in the market will pay premium price.

There are plenty of websites online that you can use here. Many people have saved hundreds of dollars a year simply by using one of those fantastic insurance calculators. You should do that too. You will be surprised at how much you could save (car insurance, medical insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, and a whole lot more!). They all sell the same products. So why should you pay more?

Impulse Purchasing

I am guilty of this from time to time. I look at something and think “hey, that is cheap, it is not going to eat too much into my budget”. Guess what? It does. It eats into it A LOT. You see, those small purchases are VERY quickly going to rack up. Before you know it you will have next to no cash in your bank account. Fancy magazines, candies at the counters, or another sale going on in the shop (which seems to be on sale forever), etc. You name it.

Try to curb those impulse purchases. Don’t take your card everywhere you go. Don’t head online and shop unless you are actually after something. Basically, you should be doing absolutely everything to control yourself. If you can’t control yourself then you should not have a card. It has become so easy to spend money online these days that you have to make an effort to stop yourself. Failing which, you will despise the bills that come into your mail box at the end of each month.

scroll to top