You may not know this, but these bad spending habits can be affecting you and your finances in more ways than one. Here we identify the 5 bad spending habits you need to be made aware of and how you can avoid succumbing to them in the future.
We are always under the impression that the big things are the ones that tend to put us in a bad financial situation – mortgages, never-ending bills, emergency expenses, and even big-ticket purchases.
But in reality, the little things matter as much as the big things. And worse, you don’t even see these small things at work; you hardly feel their effects initially until they start piling up. By then, it might already be too late – you’re already knee-deep in debt.
So before you end up in that hard path, let’s discuss the 5 bad spending habits you might be practicing and how you can get rid of them from your life
Buying cheap products
Most people think that by buying cheap products, they are actually saving money. What they don’t realize is this is really one of the bad spending habits we all ought to avoid.
Think about it for a second: there are cheap products tend to have cheap quality and therefore tend to break, tear, and wear easily.
In short, buying cheap products may end up costing you more money as you struggle to replace them more frequently than you should.
Splurging just a little on certain items to ensure its quality – especially those that you’d want to last longer – might save you more money than buying cheap. Take this into consideration the next time you’re going shopping.
Not utilizing your paid services/memberships
Remember when New Year came rolling in and we all lined up to the gym to avail a membership? Months later, how are we getting on with that membership? Are we still using it?
The sad truth is, most people forget about the memberships they signed up for the moment the hype around it dies down. And not utilizing their paid memberships is definitely one of the many bad spending habits people commonly suffer from.
Imagine paying more than P7,000 for a premium gym membership only to have it go unused three months later!
There are still various ways to exercise for free, especially if you’re iffy about signing up for a gym membership. You can also try to stream or download exercise videos from the Internet and try them out for free!
Read: Best Payment Method: cash, credit, debit, or installment plans?
Availing promos indiscriminately
A lot of stores utilize different marketing strategies to encourage or entice their customers to buy more of their products. These promos advertise that by buying more, you’re actually saving more.
Sadly, a lot of people fall for these promos without looking closely at the repercussions – another one of those bad spending habits we tend to ignore.
Read: Managing Loans: How to Pay Off Your Loans in Fast & Easy Way
Because think about it: while you will indeed save a few hundred pesos by buying two items to avail an extra freebie, do you really need that extra item? Will you be able to use it anytime soon?
Unless what you’re buying is already a staple item in your life, we suggest not getting carried away by that promo. Instead, do a bit of a quick math and see if you’re really saving money from the promo you’re being offered.
Falling for the ‘free shipping’ trick
Aside from offering promos, a lot of online stores also employ the “free shipping” promo to entice their customers to buy more of their products. Their technique is to have you reach a specific amount (say, P1000) and they’ll waive the shipping fee.
Again, let’s take a moment to think about it. Let’s say the item(s) you really need just costs P500. That means you’ll have to spend P500 more just to save P50 to P100 of shipping fee!
Read: Back to Basics: 10 Ways To Avoid Spending Recklessly
Prioritizing minor convenience over significant savings
We get it, life is already hard and we’re bound to think that any form of convenience is worth paying the price.
But this mindset fuels a lot of people’s bad spending habits. While an occasional splurging is okay (and you do deserve a reward every now and then), the continued indulgence of these little conveniences can take a serious chunk of your savings.
This will seem like a tedious amount of work, but keeping a budget/spending journal can actually help you keep track of the little things you spend your money on.
Read: How To Construct Your 2018 Budget Plan: A 3-Step Guide
Using this journal, you can zero into any areas where you can cut back on your spendings. You’d be surprised on just how much you can save by cutting back on the unnecessary things!