The Most Common Things we Waste Money on
Throughout the week we tend to sneak in extra items that stretch our budget. Some of these items don’t cost a lot at the time and we don’t stop to think about how these purchases affect our finances long term. We are all guilty of it, some more than others; whether you ‘treat yourself’ too often, love to ‘live in the moment’ or buy for convenience, these are the most common items we waste money on.
Every morning we face a hard day of work ahead of us, that’s why we believe that we ‘need’ or ‘deserve’ our routine flat white each morning. If coffee is necessary for functional day at work, swap your cafe coffees for a coffee at home or at your workplace. Better yet, kick your coffee habit altogether and reap the health benefits.Buying branded products
Most of the time buying branded products isn’t necessary, especially if a generic brand does the job just as well. One of the most common branded item we waste money on is clothes, in which case we are not really paying for the clothing itself but the branded name tag. The psychological reasoning behind this is the need to boost our self-esteem and social status.Making lots of trips to the supermarket
By simply budgeting and creating a shopping list you can save you a lot of money per week on food. Having everything you need to prepare breakfast lunch and dinner each week will save you from spending on last minute trips to the supermarket and purchasing convenience food.
Cigarettes
It’s a no brainer. To put it simply, the current NZ average spent on cigarettes is $160 per week, that’s $8,300 per year.
To save money on these common items it comes down to kicking the habit. Switch up your routine and create new habits. It is not a case of quitting altogether (apart from smoking of course) but limiting these purchases, keeping a balance and purchasing everything in moderation.
Instead of buying lunches and coffee every day, limit yourself to buying them once or twice a week. Buy yourself a couple of pairs of good quality branded clothing for those special occasions only. Once you create your new habits, it will become second nature and you will see a huge difference in your finances.