10 Unnecessary Money Expenses That Go Unnoticed
Some tips to save money are obvious, such as not flying first class, eating fewer times in restaurants, or giving up bad habits like smoking. On other occasions, there are savings opportunities that are sporadic and do not allow consistent month-to-month savings such as choosing the cheapest vacation hotels or buying a used car instead of a new one; They are great tips, but they will not help lower your monthly expenses.
However, sometimes we don’t realize that there are opportunities for savings in everyday activities. Here is a list of 10 tips to save that you probably didn’t know:
- Do not buy branded products
Buy generic brands as long as it is an option that does not significantly affect the quality of the product. When reviewing labels, in most cases, the ingredients of two products may be identical or almost identical, but have significantly different prices. For example, it is currently very common to find generic patent medicines for branded products that have already expired; They have the same components but are sold at a lower price.
- Courier service
Anticipate the need to send and receive letters and packages by courier so that when the time comes you don’t have to pay the fee for extra express delivery so that it arrives overnight. Fast service can cost you up to 10 times more compared to normal service.
- Pay a mechanic every time something fails with the car
The basic maintenance of the car is something less and less that we have learned; One of the reasons is that we are increasingly busy and prefer that someone else do the maintenance work. Money is flying from your wallet if you take your car to a workshop for every small complication.
Several of the problems with cars are simple and do not need a professional mechanic to solve them; Even many routine maintenance tasks can be done at home. Research online if you can do the maintenance yourself before going to the mechanic shop.
- Go buy food when you’re hungry
If you shop at the supermarket every time you are hungry, if only a little, you are more likely to buy extra food that you do not need or that you will not eat. This also happens when you go shopping with too much free time and without a predefined shopping list. If you visit the supermarket with a defined list of products, when you have other pending chores and only a certain amount of time to do them, you are less likely to spend time exploring all the islands and collecting more food than you need.
- Buying a snack at the store “occasionally”
It is a trap in which it is very easy to fall for the simple fact of not keeping a record of all the small purchases of snacks you make on the fly. All those soda bottles and bags of chips that you consume when you refill the gas tank or stop at a convenience store make a difference not only in your budget but also in your diet. If you allocate a small defined budget to moderate the consumption of snacks you will see that you can save a significant amount per month. You can also buy them by volume in supermarkets at a lower cost. With $ 20 in snacks bought in volume you can substitute an expense of $ 50 to $ 200 in a corner shop or a service station. In turn, to avoid visits to convenience stores,
6. Your bank … in general
If you neglect, the banks and everything related to them can be vacuum cleaners. For example, whenever possible, try using your own bank’s ATMs to avoid paying cash withdrawal fees.
Take a look at your accounts and check the annuities, interest rates and additional benefits of the credit cards you have, and see if there is a better option in the market than you currently have given your payment habits. Check how Finerio can help you with this.
7. You don’t keep your car tires properly inflated
When the tires do not have the ideal amount of air, they can increase the fuel consumption of your car. Keep your tires properly inflated and you will save money on gas that you didn’t even know you were losing. Set up an alert on your mobile phone to schedule a periodic review.
Put 1% of gas costs towards your debts for next month. Most of us keep the tires under the ideal amount of air and each PSI you need eats up to 1/8 of 1% of fuel efficiency. If you add only two PSI for each tire, the fuel efficiency goes up by 1%. For every $ 100 in gas you spend, you’ll be saving $ 1
8. The purchase of coffee
We currently spend a lot of money buying coffee in coffee shops or prestigious restaurants. Buying a good coffee maker to make coffee yourself can save a lot of money in the short term. Take a thermos with you and you will not only be saving money but also helping the environment.
If you can make a coffee with milk with $ 10 in your home when it normally costs you $ 40 in a cafeteria you are already saving $ 30 a day!
9. Do not maintain health and hygiene habits
In health matters, prevention is the best ally in your pocket. For example, we have heard quite rightly that our dentists recommend maintaining dental health or we will have cavities and treating them can be painfully expensive. Not washing your hands, consuming too much alcohol and junk food, and simply not taking care of your health in general will cost you a lot of money in the future, no matter how invincible you think you are now. Compare the possible medical expenses and the inconvenience of having a disease against the temporary effort to adapt to new habits and make the intelligent decision.
10. Disorganization
Being disorganized has cost us money at some point. The cost is high when cables, cell phones, watches and expensive jewelry are lost, as well as when you forget where the keys were left and you have to pay for a locksmith to enter your home or car. Just think how many times you have lost something and that you ended up finding it later, realizing that you spent money for nothing.