It seems that everywhere I look I see people frivolously spending money. It honestly seems like money might be burning a hole in some peoples pockets with the frequency they spend it. Sometimes it is only small items like cups of coffee or bottled water, but sometimes it is larger purchases like cars or swimming pools.
Since my son has been born and our family income has been reduced to only 1 wage my wife and I have been extra cautious on how much and where we spend our money. It makes sense to me to conserve your money where possible, but it is heightened when you have a 40% drop in income over night and an added expense in a new baby. Plus being at home all the time helped to shelter me from the outside world and the excessive spending that occurs in most peoples daily lives.
So when I returned to work after my long service leave I was reintroduced to what can only be described as consumerism gone mad. It wasn’t the company that was wasting money, but my co-workers. One of my colleagues buys a bottle of water every morning at around $2 a pop. That is $10 a week and $520 a year for something that is free out of the tap (we even have chilled water out of the tap).
Another colleague is trying his best to stop his wife from buying a pool. I feel really sorry for the guy, one day his wife wakes up and decides they need a pool that is going to cost $30,000 despite still owing around 80% on their mortgage. To me it seems like a colossal waste of money which may actually devalue their house. Many people immediately overlook houses that have pools when they are looking to purchase a property due to the ongoing maintenance.
I often sit there and wonder how any of my work mates ever get ahead when they always seem to be buying things that they either don’t need, or could be getting for free or at a much reduced price. As far as I can tell none of them really enjoy work to the point of being a workaholic, but with their excessive spending they will all be there for far longer than they have to. I actually wonder if they realise just how powerful the effects of compound interest can be both when you have debt and when you are accumulating wealth?
For me personally, the biggest thing that I waste money on is almost certainly Alcohol. I don’t need it, but I do enjoy having a beer or two on a Friday night when we normally have people over. In total I probably spend around $50 every 2 months on beer so about a dollar a day.
Readers
What do you spend money on that you don’t have to?
Fabric! (That’s one of the quilter’s greatest temptations, sadly.)
Oh, and junk food: potato chips, corn dogs and such. Tostitos with Lime are my particular downfall — so much that I cannot keep them in the house. (They get eaten for breakfast, or until the bag is gone.)
Husband, the Brick, on the other hand, has difficulty walking away from things like financial newsletters. It’s easy for him to over-indulge at $25 here, $50 there.
My wife usually has about 15 different things that she want to spend mythical money (future money not earned yet) on. I have heard stories about getting a pool, an extra room on the house and of course new cars. I am not really sure where the money is supposed to come from so I always tell her to put it on the list…the list is getting very long.
zimmy@moneyandpotatoes.com recently posted..Money Mistakes : Should I Have Retired From the Military?
Coffees, eating out, taxis (a Dink living in the city)
SarahN recently posted..Waste Wednesday update
I used to have all of them.
Although a taxi when you already live in the city is interesting.
Taxi cause I don’t own a car, can’t ride a scooter when I’ve been drinking… And some places aren’t serviced by pub trans.
SarahN recently posted..What’s in your (bathroom) drawers?
I am guilty of this to an extent, but water at $2 a day. That’s crazy!
That’s what I tell the guy
It’s not REALLY a waste because it gets me to work, but I’d have to say gas for my car. I live a decent ways from work and my job could technically be done from home full-time. No one wants to challenge the status quo, though, so I’ll be commuting as long as I have this job.
I hear you. I have the same issues at my workplace.
Money doesn’t really burn a hole in my pocket but cash does. For some reason, I always spend any cash that I have…so I try not to carry any!
I am with you Holly. Any cash that is in my pocket gets spent. That is why I usually carry plastic.
Grayson @ Debt RoundUp recently posted..When Passion Turns Into Work
Me too! Cash mysteriously disappears when it is in my pocket.
Mackenzie recently posted..To My Princess
It seems like this is a fairly common thing to happen.
That’s a really good point and I am exactly the same. If the money isn’t there I am far less likely to spend it.
I’ll admit to spending money a couple times a week on a quick but overpriced snack at Starbucks or the like (yogurt and granola, for example), but this becomes a time value issue, since I’ll spend that time working instead.
You have to have some treats though..
There are quite some things that I spend money on and I shouldn’t. The cable bill is paid monthly, but we no longer watch TV. I also seem to have started to feel the love for drinking soda lately and that is money that’s lost (and does bad things to your overall health too).
Romanian recently posted..June Budget
We waste a lot of money on cable too.
A big purchase that we don’t “need” but bought anyways would be our cars! We do love having them though.
Michelle recently posted..How I’m Getting Rid of My Student loans FAST – $200 Giveaway
We have 2 cars when we only really need one.
This is a big part of the reason why I do not carry cash in my wallet. If I have it, it gets spent. We’re the same way with booze as well. We actually spent too much on it last month and need to dial it back some.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..Retirement Planning and Saving For College: Can They Co-exist?
At least I only really drink when people are over. It makes me feel better about it anyway…
I don’t really think money burns a hole in my pocket. I’m pretty good at not spending too much money that is not necessary. One thing I could work on would be to eat out a bit less. My wife and I only spend about $75 a month right now, but I know that could be $0 if we really wanted it to be.
Jake Erickson recently posted..How to Graduate College With No Debt
We don’t really east out unless it is a special occasion. Even then we use coupons to save.
We’re not too terrible these days on wasting money, but that’s probably mostly because we’ve got 17 years of being horrible with wasting money to make up for. :-). Glen, I feel bad for the guy at work with the pool situation – OUCH!
I also feel sorry for him. A pool isn’t cheap at all.
I enjoy visiting homes with pools but I don’t want one precisely for the reasons you mentioned – maintenance and making your home harder to sell. Pools are nice but the upkeep is expensive and lots of people don’t want to take that on as well. Overall I have a good grip on my money with one exception. Those days that I don’t go immediately to the office, sometimes I sneak into Starbucks for a tea or coffee when a few minutes of extra planning and I could have made a cup of tea at home to take with me.
Making a cuppa is one of the first things I do when I get into the office. I could easily buy one, but I know I will save heaps in the long run by making it myself.
A big one use to be bottle water for my wife. I am ok with free tap water are just getting a cheap filter. When I was younger and less frugal tvs and electronics was something I didn’t have to but enjoyed. Though I really like cars never spent money on them cause I never could afford the ones i truly wanted.
I always wanted really fast cars too. Looking back it was probably a good thing I couldn’t afford them as I would have likely killed myself.
I am pretty reasonable with spending so if I feel like something I buy it. Although I always question the expense, and wouldn’t buy water if there was tap water for example. I would have to be really thirsty to buy it, but if I feel like coke I buy a coke.
Pauline recently posted..It is not so much about how much you have, it is about the returns
It is different if it is flavored vs just normal water.
Definitely eating out. Although since we started our debt repayment journey, it happens with much less frequency. It is all too easy to slip back into those bad habits and not think twice!
I normally eat on fast food chains very day of school when I was in high school but I noticed that I’m just wasting money, so I decided to bring my own lunch this college and it saved me a lot.
Mark @ Think Rich. Be Free. recently posted..Why You Should Invest In The Stock Market Today And Not Tomorrow
*Correction: i mean everyday of school. My bad.