You’ve committed to saving money, eliminating debt, and achieving financial freedom. Now that you’ve decided to be intentional with your money, it’s time to take a close look at how you may be wasting money without even knowing it!
Ways You’re Wasting Money
- Not paying attention to your statements. Every time you get a credit card statement or a bank statement, it’s an opportunity for you to find ways to save money. Maybe you’ll find charges for subscription services you don’t use – you could cancel the services! You might see spending patterns that you didn’t think were a big deal, but they add up to a lot each month. Pay attention to your statements so you’re super aware of all of the money that’s going out from your accounts.
- Not meal planning. When you plan your meals for the week, and grocery shop based on a list, you’ll only buy what you need. Even if your estimations are off, you’ll likely save money by planning out your meals and making a grocery list. Love eating at restaurants? Schedule them in your meal plans! You can set aside money each week for restaurant spending.
- Not using your freezer. Say your meal plan doesn’t pan out like you thought it would…take the food you’re not going to use this week and freeze it! Saving food in the freezer for later helps you trim your future grocery budgets and reduce food waste.
- Idling your car. Waiting to pick up the kids at school? Unless it’s awful weather outside and you NEED the A/C or heat on, turn off your car and save on gas.
- Overspending on paper products. I’m not going to tell you to give up paper towels and other disposable products all together, but look at ways to reduce how often you use them. Invest in a set of microfiber cloths (they’re usually about the same price as a package of paper towels), and use them for most of your cleaning in the kitchen. Save your paper towels for really gross clean up tasks.
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