How to stop wasting your money 

According to a survey by NerdWallet, 74% of Americans have a monthly budget, but of these, 84% say they sometimes exceed their monthly budget. If you’ve identified with the situation, today we’re going to give you the best tips for you to stop wasting your money.

Subscriptions

First, we should talk about all types of subscriptions, from physical services to digital services.

For example, if you go to the gym 6 days a week, use all or most of the equipment and take advantage of the classes on offer on different days, it makes perfect sense to keep your gym membership.

This is because you are getting as many benefits as possible from that subscription.

On the other hand, we can consider an individual who can’t even remember the last time they went to the gym.

Certainly, the best thing in this case would be to cancel the subscription.

If you identify with this individual, the time has come to stop wasting your money.

The best strategy in your case would be to work on developing the habit of exercising at home, by following a YouTube video, for example.

It’s interesting because, as well as not spending any money, you’ll develop the habit of exercising until you can re-subscribe to the gym.

And of course, if you’re very satisfied with exercising at home, you could consider investing in some simple equipment, so you don’t have to pay a monthly subscription to train.

Subscribing to digital services

Netflix, HBO, Prime Video, Spotify, YouTube Premium, Apple TV and Looke.

There are dozens of services where companies claim to prioritize customer convenience.

So, you may decide to do the 30-day free trial and then cancel the service, but end up forgetting.

As a result, your credit card is automatically charged, without you even realizing how much money you’re losing.

Losing money because I’m sorry to say that if you subscribe to take advantage of the trial period, forget to cancel and have subscribed to 5 streaming services, you certainly don’t use them all.

So analyze your digital subscriptions to stop wasting your money.

Note that we’re not saying you shouldn’t subscribe to anything, but that you should prioritize the ones you use.

Another point of attention is cable TV.

There are endless entertainment options available on services like HBO and Netflix, so why would you think it would be worth paying R$100?

In most cases, cable TV is a total waste of money because you have access to 200 channels and only watch 2.

For both physical and digital recurring services, we recommend that you take a look at your card statement.

Understand which subscriptions you’re actually taking advantage of and if there are any you’re not using, don’t hesitate to cancel them.

Remember that you can easily subscribe again if you need to.

Stop wasting your money on clothes

Make no mistake!

We’re not saying that you should stop buying clothes, but rather that you should analyze how you’re using your hard-earned money.

We tend to think that it’s better to spend money on cheap clothes in order to save money.

In this sense, why spend US$60 on a T-shirt when you can buy a similar garment for US$15?

We know we shouldn’t do that because of the material.

So we decide to insist on the mistake and spend money on what is cheaper.

As a result, after the first wash, the garment looks like it has been worn for a long time and, after a few months, you have to buy another T-shirt.

The low-quality material used results in clothes that wear out very quickly. 

Wouldn’t it be better to invest in a higher quality garment and spend more time on it?

Also, remember that investing in quality garments is not only good for your pocket, but also for the environment.

Late payment fees 

You should also stop wasting your money on late payment fees.

In the case of credit cards, for example, there is usually a 2% fine for late payment, as well as interest on the revolving account and interest on arrears.

Although it may not seem like much to pay US$20, US$30 or US$40 in interest for late services, we always recommend that you think about the long term.

And if you are in the habit of delaying payments, in addition to credit card interest, you will have to pay other fines.

So, the ideal thing is to organize yourself financially so that you have the money you need to pay all your bills on time.

You should also take advantage of automation.

Today, there are exclusive platforms that allow you to pay bills automatically.

In other words, if you need to remember one more bill, just automate the payment and stop paying late fees.

Stop wasting your money on bank fees

Did you know that Americans spend $24 a month on fees, which corresponds to almost $300 a year?

You may fall into this group if you insist on paying for account maintenance, withdrawals and credit card annual fees.

There are several digital banking options that offer these services free of charge.

For example, most digital banks offer an annual fee-free account and credit card. 

In other words, you only pay for additional account services such as insurance, and you don’t have to worry about making a monthly payment to maintain your card.

And although not all of them, there are digital banks that offer a free withdrawal service, or at least 1 withdrawal.

It may seem crazy to open an account with a digital bank just to save US$5 on a withdrawal.

But consider that it only takes a few minutes to open an account and that, over the course of 12 months, you’ll be able to stop wasting your money because you’ll save US$60 on withdrawals.

We even recommend that you pay attention because maintenance, annual fees and withdrawals are charged automatically, without you even realizing it.

So you may think that an account is 100% free, but every month part of your money is deducted.

When it comes to withdrawals, check whether you really need cash on hand.

All the places we go accept card payments and even digital wallets when you touch your cell phone to the machine.

So keep your money in your account.

However, if you’re using cash as a strategy to limit your spending, it’s understandable to need withdrawals.

And, of course, keep a certain amount on hand for emergencies.

Lottery tickets

If you want to stop wasting your money, stop buying lottery tickets and stop spending money on gambling!

If you play 1 game of 6 tens, the probability of winning is 1 in 50,063,860, which corresponds to a 0.000002% chance.

Many people give up just hearing the above sentence, but some insist on wasting their financial resources.

These people dream of a perfect future in which they won’t have to worry about money.

In other words, they want to make easy money so that they can live the rest of their lives like the world’s biggest celebrities.

But one of these people might think: I know I’ll win someday. I understand that the chances are slim, but I will win!

It’s not very difficult to find people who have won millions in the lottery and then become poor.

A simple search will reveal hundreds of cases that prove the following:

If you don’t know how to organize yourself financially, you don’t need more money, but you do need to learn about financial education.

In other words, no matter how many times a person experiences the miracle of winning the lottery, they will never stop wasting their money.

As a result, they will never have a peaceful life because all the money is spent on useless things.

In 2021, Americans spent $105.26 billion on lottery tickets.

Couldn’t that amount have been put to better use?

Small expenses, big financial villains

The example of a cup of coffee may seem a bit of a stretch, but it helps us understand a lot of things.

If a person spends US$5 on coffee every day, considering every day of the year, that adds up to more than US$1,800.

Wouldn’t it be smarter to invest in a good coffee machine, so you can have money left over and coffee whenever you want it?

However, the example of coffee allows us to understand that small, consistent expenses can become major financial villains.

As a result, to stop wasting your money, you need to keep an eye on your spending.

Maybe you don’t buy a coffee every day, but you prefer to buy your lunch every day.

Let’s say you work 250 days a year and pay US$20 for lunch every day, that means you spend US$5,000 a year.

Wouldn’t it be better to set aside one day a week, prepare the food and save money?

Note that we are not saying that you should exterminate coffee from your life or never eat out.

But when you do this every day, you’re wasting your financial resources.

It’s good to understand that taking care of small expenses allows you to save money, but that’s not the only advantage.

When you buy something or eat out, it will be much more enjoyable because it hasn’t become routine.

Stop wasting your money on the market

You might decide that from now on you’re going to start cooking lunch at work to save money.

So you head off to the market, very excited about your new decision, and fill your trolley with vegetables and fruit.

However, there’s also a problem with doing this in excitement, because you can lose track of what you really need.

In the United States, people waste 80 million tons of food every year, which equals 149 billion meals. 

And if we’re wasting food, we’re also wasting our money.

Not throwing food away should be a rule in your home, because every time we throw excess food away, we are literally throwing money away.

You should also be careful when you go to the market.

Buy fruit and vegetables that only last a week to stop wasting your money.

Next week, you can visit the market again.

This way, you can confirm what your family has actually eaten, what they haven’t and prevent any food from spoiling.

Another essential tip would be to use a shopping list.

When you notice that something is missing from the cupboard, write it down on the shopping list.

That way, when the day comes to visit the market, you know exactly what you need and don’t waste money on unnecessary items.

Also, take into account simple tips such as not going to the market hungry, explaining to children that there is a shopping list that must be respected, etc.

Conclusion

Probably the best way to save money is to think of your spending as working hours.

If a product costs US$100, it actually means it’s worth 10 hours of work, if you’re paid US$10 an hour.

From there, you can consider whether it’s really worth working a whole day + two hours to buy a certain product or whether the ideal would be to stop wasting your money.