Top 10 Things People Waste Money On

Let's face it when you start a home budget you realize how much money you're wasting on useless things. Take my family for example....$300 worth of pizza. I know I've shared that several times on this blog but it's true. 

When you sit down and break your spending into categories, you will see exactly what you are wasting. There's a lot of things that we waste our money on and don't even realize it until the totals are staring us right in the face.

Here's a list of the Top 10 Things People Waste Money On!!!!!!

FAST FOOD

Oh, fast food how we love and hate you all at the same time. Sure it's quick and easy but it can also be very expensive. This one probably took us the longest to cut out. Now at times we still eat fast food, but it's like once or twice a month.

Cutting out fast food will not only save you money but you'll also eat healthier. There's nothing wrong with going through the drive-thru once in a while. We've learned to order off the Dollar Menu instead.

CABLE

Most people don't even want to consider this one and I can see why. Been there, done that. But in all honesty, cable can be very expensive depending on the company and where you live.

The only reason we currently have cable is because of the sports package for my husband. The majority of the time our TV stays on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video. If I could find a way to get just the sports package and do away with the rest I totally would.

But if you're not into sports, I would cut the cable. Sure the shows on Hulu don't post until the next day, but at $7.99 a month, that's not a bad trade-off. Just saying!!!!

XM RADIO & OTHER MUSIC APPS

XM Radio is great don't get me wrong. We have Sirus XM in my car which I'm actually fixing to cancel. To be honest, I mainly play Pandora in my car or sometimes YouTube. Sure it's not what you would call expensive, but at $69 every 3 months, it's an extra expense. 

The other thing to consider is music apps. You can download Pandora for free. The problem is that I've seen several people pay for Pandora just so they have unlimited skips and can make a playlist. I guess I can understand if you use it all the time, but if it's just for in your car I don't see where it's worth it.

Which brings me to the next one.....YouTube.....I love YouTube because I can make my own playlist and then play it in my car. Sure I can't lock my screen and it's not ad free. I refuse to pay $12 just so I can do that. I'm sorry but I don't see where it's worth it. But hey that's just me.

BRAND NAME PRODUCTS

I can't say that we've ever been a brand name family. I grew up on the Great Value Brand so I guess that's why. Are all off brands great......UM NO!!!!! But for the most part, they are basically the same as the name brand just different packaging.

You can save so much money by buying the store brand versus name brand. Don't believe me??? Give it a try and see for yourself. I promise that you will save about 30% or more just by switching.

There are still some things we buy name brand but for the most part, we buy the store brand.

UNUSED GYM MEMBERSHIPS

So every New Year millions of people join gyms to get into shape. While this is great......by March or April the gyms are pretty much empty. This monthly payment is highly debatable and something I don't go into much detail about.

For people that go to the gym more than 4 times a week all throughout the year, I can completely understand having a membership. But if you're going 2 times a week for half the year.......I don't see the point in having this monthly payment when you can save your money and work out at home.

Like I said, highly debatable but it is something that people waste money on.

HOME DECOR / EXPENSIVE FURNITURE

Oh, I could go on and on about this one!!!!! Look I get it, we all dream of having a Pinterest worthy home. But let's face it......if you're broke and on a budget...STOP wasting money on expensive decor!!!!!!!

There are several ways you can save money on this category. DIY, thrift stores, Facebook garage sales, etc!!!! What is the point in having a well-decorated home if you can't afford it? I ask this question in all seriousness. 

Stay out of Bed Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 people. Do it on a budget and don't waste thousands of dollars. 

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

I've never understood why people spend so much money on expensive clothing. I don't know if it's because I've never been into it or that I have much more important things to spend my money on......I just don't get it!!!!!

I'm all for dressing up nice, BUT I don't see myself spending $100 on a pair of jeans. There are so many ways to save money on clothes. I thrift shop all the time and have found name brand clothes...sometimes with the tags still on.

This is just one of those things that I'm against but hey that's me.

IN-APP PURCHASES

I never realized that this was really a problem until recently. It's not that they're expensive, it's that, to be honest, they're senseless.

I have games on my phone that I love to play, but if I run out of lives...I PUT MY PHONE DOWN!!!!! It's hard for me to comprehend why this is a problem, but apparently, for some people it is. Try spending less time on your phone playing games and more time with family.

BOOKS

I love to read all the time. But did you know that you can actually check out books on your Kindle from the Library? Just saying look it up!!!!!

Not only that, it's cheaper to buy books on your Kindle than it is to buy actual books.

LOTTERY

The amount of money people spend on lottery tickets amazes me. Sure we buy scratch offs every once in a while and has also been known to buy a lottery ticket before. But unfortunately, some people take this to the extreme.

This is one of those "Get Rich Fast Schemes" and pay off all your debt. It's not that winning the lottery isn't great, the scary thing is what people do with all that money. Crazy purchases that end up putting you further into debt.....Look it happens!!!!!!

The odds of winning the lottery are slim to none. But I'm not saying it can't happen. When you're already in debt......it's a waste of money.

What are some things you waste money on???

I challenge you to add up some of the things on this list and see how much money you're wasting. I bet that the totals will shock you. 

We all have to start somewhere right. The main thing is to get your budget on track and focus on what is important. I know you can do it and I'm here to help you.

*~ Cassie ~*

@livingtobudget