How to Reduce Wasteful Spending
Cook instead of eat out., Buy used., Switch to a water filter., Buy store bands and generics., Use a shaving razor subscription service., Stop buying small items on credit.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Cook instead of eat out.
One of the easiest ways to overspend is by regularly eating out.
Restaurant meals don't necessarily seem like big expenses, but they add up.
Although cooking all your meals at home can seem like a big time commitment, you can minimize the time by doing the following:
Use a grocery delivery service.
Grocery delivery services are cheaper and more convenient than ever.
Services like Instacart allow you to order groceries online and have them delivered to your door in about an hour.
Although there is a charge, the charge plus the price of groceries still comes out to less than the price of eating out all the time.
Cook several meals at once.
A great way to get int the habit of cooking is to cook a week's worth of meals at one time.
Just pick a day when you'll have extra time (like a Saturday or Sunday) and take care of it all in one fell swoop. -
Step 2: Buy used.
You’ll pay a premium for almost anything you buy new, but a lot of products are equally good whether they’re new or used.
Before you buy something new, check thrift stores, ebay, and classified listings to see if you can find the same thing used.
Some great things to buy used are:
Cars.
Buying a new car is almost never financially wiser than buying a used car.
The minute you drive a car off the lot, it loses 10% of its value, and will have lost almost 20% by the end of the first year.
By the end of year four, it’s worth half as much as it was new.
There’s no need for you to be the owner that eats the depreciation.Books.
A new hardback book will easily cost $20.
A used hardback will usually cost less than half that, and used paperbacks can easily be bought for a dollar at local thrift stores.
A new book doesn’t read better than a used one, so there’s no good reason to buy new books.
With the advent of marketplaces like Amazon, AbeBooks, and eBay (not to mention libraries), you can almost always find a used version of the title you’re looking for.Clothes.
While you might not be able to find as good a selection of used clothes as you can books or cars, most localities have resale shops where you can find gently used designer clothes at steep discounts.
Buffalo Exchange is a national chain, but there are almost always local options as well. , A few notorious examples notwithstanding, tap water is almost always as safe to drink as bottled water.
If you’re really concerned about the safety of your water, buy a water filter.
The average cost of tap water in the US is .4 of a penny per gallon.
Assuming a 20 oz. bottle of water costs $1.25, bottled water costs about $8.00 per gallon.
You can purchase an on-tap water filter for as little as $25, and a filter pitcher for even less.
The investment will pay for itself within a month., Although there are a few products—usually a food product or a tool—with discernible differences between name-brands and off brands, other products are exactly the same.
Generic drugs, both over-the-counter and prescription, are required by the FDA to be exactly the same as their name brand counterparts, and generic drugs regularly cost as much as 50% less than the name brand.For instance, a bottle of 500 Walgreen’s brand 325mg aspirin tablets cost $.01 per pill.
The largest bottle Bayer offers at Walgreens contains 300 tablets and costs $.06 a pill., Virtually every consumer feels that store bought shaving razors are too expensive.
But for a long time, there was no alternative.
A consumer could stop shaving, learn to shave with a cut-throat razor, or buy safety razors in the store.
This is no longer the case.
There are a variety of companies offering razors by mail, with prices ranging from $3.00 per shipment to $22.45 per shipment.A razor subscription service should not be thought of as something that is solely the domain of men.
The biggest difference between men's and women's razors is the color of the handle.
The blades are no different. , Credit cards serve a purpose, but they’re best reserved for larger purchases and emergencies.
When you use them for small items, you end up running up your bill with little to show for it.
There’s no reason to pay 20% interest on a $5.00 fast-food burger.Even if you get “rewards” for card purchases, it still probably isn’t a good idea to use them for small purchases.
Card companies make more money the longer you carry a balance.
The rewards entice you to use the card, but typically only pay off if you pay down the balance right away. -
Step 3: Switch to a water filter.
-
Step 4: Buy store bands and generics.
-
Step 5: Use a shaving razor subscription service.
-
Step 6: Stop buying small items on credit.
Detailed Guide
One of the easiest ways to overspend is by regularly eating out.
Restaurant meals don't necessarily seem like big expenses, but they add up.
Although cooking all your meals at home can seem like a big time commitment, you can minimize the time by doing the following:
Use a grocery delivery service.
Grocery delivery services are cheaper and more convenient than ever.
Services like Instacart allow you to order groceries online and have them delivered to your door in about an hour.
Although there is a charge, the charge plus the price of groceries still comes out to less than the price of eating out all the time.
Cook several meals at once.
A great way to get int the habit of cooking is to cook a week's worth of meals at one time.
Just pick a day when you'll have extra time (like a Saturday or Sunday) and take care of it all in one fell swoop.
You’ll pay a premium for almost anything you buy new, but a lot of products are equally good whether they’re new or used.
Before you buy something new, check thrift stores, ebay, and classified listings to see if you can find the same thing used.
Some great things to buy used are:
Cars.
Buying a new car is almost never financially wiser than buying a used car.
The minute you drive a car off the lot, it loses 10% of its value, and will have lost almost 20% by the end of the first year.
By the end of year four, it’s worth half as much as it was new.
There’s no need for you to be the owner that eats the depreciation.Books.
A new hardback book will easily cost $20.
A used hardback will usually cost less than half that, and used paperbacks can easily be bought for a dollar at local thrift stores.
A new book doesn’t read better than a used one, so there’s no good reason to buy new books.
With the advent of marketplaces like Amazon, AbeBooks, and eBay (not to mention libraries), you can almost always find a used version of the title you’re looking for.Clothes.
While you might not be able to find as good a selection of used clothes as you can books or cars, most localities have resale shops where you can find gently used designer clothes at steep discounts.
Buffalo Exchange is a national chain, but there are almost always local options as well. , A few notorious examples notwithstanding, tap water is almost always as safe to drink as bottled water.
If you’re really concerned about the safety of your water, buy a water filter.
The average cost of tap water in the US is .4 of a penny per gallon.
Assuming a 20 oz. bottle of water costs $1.25, bottled water costs about $8.00 per gallon.
You can purchase an on-tap water filter for as little as $25, and a filter pitcher for even less.
The investment will pay for itself within a month., Although there are a few products—usually a food product or a tool—with discernible differences between name-brands and off brands, other products are exactly the same.
Generic drugs, both over-the-counter and prescription, are required by the FDA to be exactly the same as their name brand counterparts, and generic drugs regularly cost as much as 50% less than the name brand.For instance, a bottle of 500 Walgreen’s brand 325mg aspirin tablets cost $.01 per pill.
The largest bottle Bayer offers at Walgreens contains 300 tablets and costs $.06 a pill., Virtually every consumer feels that store bought shaving razors are too expensive.
But for a long time, there was no alternative.
A consumer could stop shaving, learn to shave with a cut-throat razor, or buy safety razors in the store.
This is no longer the case.
There are a variety of companies offering razors by mail, with prices ranging from $3.00 per shipment to $22.45 per shipment.A razor subscription service should not be thought of as something that is solely the domain of men.
The biggest difference between men's and women's razors is the color of the handle.
The blades are no different. , Credit cards serve a purpose, but they’re best reserved for larger purchases and emergencies.
When you use them for small items, you end up running up your bill with little to show for it.
There’s no reason to pay 20% interest on a $5.00 fast-food burger.Even if you get “rewards” for card purchases, it still probably isn’t a good idea to use them for small purchases.
Card companies make more money the longer you carry a balance.
The rewards entice you to use the card, but typically only pay off if you pay down the balance right away.
About the Author
William Cruz
Writer and educator with a focus on practical lifestyle knowledge.
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