Life has become very expensive, but there are lots of little things that we can change about our daily routine to save some money. In this article, you’ll find a list of 18 luxuries that could be putting a strain on your purse strings.
Convenience Store Snacking
According to Skyquestt, the convenience store market was valued at around USD 2.12 trillion in 2021. Yes, buying snacks from a convenience store is something that Americans love to do. But the snacks from the stores are usually overpriced and are costing us more than we think.
Impulse Buys
When out and about, the temptation to impulse buy is too great for many to resist. The statistics from Gitnux say that impulse purchases account for 40% of all the money spent on e-commerce. But acting on impulse in this way often makes us purchase things that we don’t need.
Coffee
Drive Research says that nearly 3 in 4 Americans drink coffee every day (73%). But buying just one cup of coffee from a café each day can become very expensive. Getting up a little earlier and preparing a cup at home is far more cost-effective.
Breakfast To Go
Many of us are in such a rush in the mornings to get to work that we don’t even have time to sit and eat breakfast before leaving. This causes us to buy breakfast snacks from corner stores and cafés. The price of just a simple breakfast roll each day adds up by the end of the month.
Bottled Water
According to Drink Optimum, on average, a 20-ounce bottle of water costs approximately $1.50. This totals to $9.60 per gallon. Instead of buying bottled water when you’re out and about, it’s far kinder on the purse strings to take drinking water with you from home in a reusable bottle.
Brand Names
The statistics from Medium say that, on average, generic options are 40% cheaper than name brands. Often, we gravitate toward name-brand goods without even trying the generic option, which is a fraction of the price. Making this mistake each day will cost us a fortune by month-end.
Sandwiches
Grabbing a sandwich from the supermarket is a quick lunch solution when you’re out and about. But if you calculate how much it would cost for you to put the same sandwich together yourself, the price difference is alarming. It’s cheaper to plan ahead and take a sandwich with you.
Streaming
Paying for streaming services that we’re not using is also a waste of money. To save money, we must analyze our services and decide whether we’re using them enough. Canceling a service that we no longer use will save us a lot of money at the end of the month.
Music
Statistics from the Social Shepherd say that 30% of Americans reportedly used Spotify every month in 2021. Many of us have a paid subscription service that we use to listen to music. But paying for a music service that we’re not using many days of the week is an expensive luxury.
Magazines
When traveling on the subway or getting the bus to work, some people like to engross themselves in something to read. While reading is a great pastime, spending money on expensive magazines just to flip through each day adds an extra cost to your travel.
Online Tools
You subscribed a while ago to an online tool, but you’re no longer using it. It’s now eating away at your money with each passing day that you don’t cancel the service. There are many tools we sign up for, like photo editors and ad-free apps. But remembering to cancel the ones you’re not using is essential.
Expired Free Trials
Signing up for a free trial of a service just to get a feel for it is great, but only if you remember to cancel the service once the trial is up. Paying the full price for services that you’re not using is a luxury that the average American can’t afford.
Take-Out
Ordering a take-out meal a couple of nights a week is delicious, but although the prices might seem reasonable for one night’s dinner, totaling up the cost of your take-out meals each week and each month could be eye-opening. It’s more cost-effective to prepare home-cooked meals.
Soda
The price of just a cup of soda in a fast-food restaurant is expensive. If you like to drink soda, it would be far cheaper to buy a big bottle from a supermarket and drink it at home than it is to spend money on fast food refill cups.
Gym Memberships
Are you paying monthly or even weekly for a gym membership that you’re not using? Then this is also an expensive luxury that becomes more expensive every day that you fail to use the service. You should cancel any unused memberships and try working out at home.
Online Shopping
Many of us buy goods online each day that we don’t need simply because of the irresistible way that they’re advertised online. To control your online shopping, make a list of the things that you need and work to stick to the list when browsing online.
Cell Phone Plans
Your cell phone plan includes unlimited minutes, messages, loads of internet, and everything one could need. But are you really using it all? Calculating how much of your cell phone plan you need could help you find a cheaper plan more suited to your usage.
Disposable Cleaning Items
We live in a throwaway society that discards things after just one use. Disposable wipes are just one example. Instead of buying disposable items for cleaning, opt for cleaners that you can use, wash, and then reuse. You’ll be surprised at how much you save on cleaning products this way.
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