Top Wasters of Household Income you can Stop

Bargain clothes shopping: People who pride themselves on being frugal or sale shoppers usually focus on the bargain aspect of a purchase rather than their future use of the purchase.  An item is not a bargain even if it is advertised at “50% off” as you may never use it. There are many shoppers that end up with clothes that they rarely, if ever, will wear and thus wasting their hard earned money. A better way to shop for clothes is to analyse your wardrobe first, list items you may need or a desired seasonal splurge, and never buy anything on sale you wouldn’t buy full price.

Buying pet supplies at the pet shop: According to US Consumer Reports, buying pet food and treats at a pet shop costs from 15% – 25% more than if bought in a general supermarket.  They sell dog and cat food as well as treats at discount retailers and supermarket chains.  Considering this is a recurring expense – it can be a huge money waster.  For an average size dog, you can save €10 per visit, which can save over €200/year just on pet food and treats alone.  It doesn’t seem like much on a day-to-day basis, but it really does make a difference in the long run.

Unused gym memberships: When Spring comes and the thought of New Year’s resolutions don’t really frequent your mind, reality hits and the hour in bed is worth more than the feeling of endorphins and you’re too busy or too tired to stop by the gym on the way home.  However you still haven’t cancelled the membership because you actually really should go and cancelling it would mean facing the fact that you aren’t. The average gym membership in Ireland is about €35 per month which adds up to about €428 for 12 months.  If you don’t use it you could have invested that money at 7% and had €15,430 in 20 years instead.

Cable and digital TV: Previous to being able to fast forward advertisements advertisers basically paid for our television watching. However, today the average household spends about €44 per month on TV, and that does not include other subscriptions to the likes of Netflix. We take it for granted that we’ll have a subscription overhead. If we didn’t and could inve
st the difference, our lack of TV watching would save us about €25,000 over 20 years.  That an expensive hobby generally taken for granted.

Speeding tickets: The problem with speeding tickets is that they are a double edged sword. Not only do you have to pay the fine, but if you get a few of them they could also raise the cost of your insurance.  The money wasted for a serial speeder with fines and insurance increases over 20 years could total €6600.

July 2014

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