We live in a society that is a little too comfortable wasting or throwing things away. I’m guilty myself of it too! Whether you should be concerned about it from an environmental standpoint (reduce, reuse, recycle!) or from a personal finance standpoint (throwing money away!), waste is some we should avoid! Let’s explore a common wastes in our lives and how to eliminate it.

Bank and ATM fees

It has always blown my mind that banks find it acceptable to charge people to access their own money, or inflicts fees on folks that can’t make ends meet, and even more so that people pit up with them! However, what we must remember here is that banks are not charities, and are a business that makes money off our money.

Sadly, bank fees are not something that can be easily changed, but our interaction with bank and ATM fees can. This means avoiding getting cash out where there is a fee involved, even if it means heading to a supermarket and getting all the money out you need for the week. The additional advantage of this being that it’s much easier to keep tabs on what you have spent and have left, and much harder to actually make a purchase that isn’t necessary when you are using cash. You also should review your bank’s fees, so you know if and how to avoid them. There are also more and more banks out there, like Credit Unions or online banks, that don’t charge any fees!

Additionally, to stop wasting money on bank fees it’s crucial that you monitor what is going in and out of your account, so no checks or direct debits bounce, and so you don’t end up unexpected in your overdraft.

Thankfully, this is now even easier to do than ever, by downloading an app with a visual diagram of what you have spent. Learn what fees are out there, and learn how to avoid them!

Having to have a fire sale to make ends meet

Sometimes, you need money quick, and that means you are willing to the lower the price of valuable items for a fast sale. However, this can be a terrible waste of money because you aren’t getting near the item’s full value, a value that you have likely already paid out from your own pocket.

Let’s chat about two ways to fix this waste. Although I’m not against unloading items that you don’t need anymore, having to sell them quickly at a fraction of their value is not ideal.

The first is to set up an emergency fund, something that means even when unexpected costs come along you will be able to deal with them without resorting to selling your assets. for cheap.  

Secondly, if you do have to resort to liquidizing some of your items or valuables, then it’s worth finding a specialist buyer to get the right price.

In fact, you can sell your old bike, jewelry, collectibles and even electronics to a specialist buyer for cash reasonably easy these days. Which mean not only will get the money you need fast but you can expect a good price as well, something that will ensure you don’t end up wasting part of the value of the item just because you need to sell it quick. Also, if you’re more DIY, look into selling the item on eBay.

Dumping money in the trash, literally

Another area in which many families end up losing money is with the groceries they buy. The reason being that food and other items are so plentiful that we think nothing of letting fresh vegetables and even meat go off without using them. Sadly, this means that apart from the time they spend in our refrigerators which actually costs us energy to run, we are basically throwing money in the trash by not using them. This is a huge concern for me as not only are you wasting money away but also wasting food, which has an environmental affect. Check out this youtube video on 14 ways to reduce food waste.

Of course, the key to prevent money wastage here is to be more careful with the food we buy and use. That means planning meals rather than just picking up what looks good, as well as carefully checking the dates and cooking items before they expire. Mrs. Money and I try to meal plan each week, in fact it’s a fun Sunday night tradition.

It can even be useful to collect up any leftovers that are still viable at the end of the week and make stews or soups with them. Something that prevents you from wasting money on the costs of additional meals in the coming week, and means that you have meals that are cooked and ready to go when you are busy, as well.

Shopping as recreation

A wise man once said that buying things you can’t afford is like stealing from yourself. However, the way that our society is set up means that we often see shopping as a hobby or recreational activity, or even as a reward for work well done.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this as long as you have control over it, but for many the high they experience while shopping can turn it into a compulsive behavior, once which they have little power over. Sadly, the accessibility of online stores does nothing to help this.  Check out 7 signs and solutions for a shopping addiction.

With that in mind, if you find you are wasting a large percentage of your available money on purchases that you don’t really need, use, or love, it may be time to make a change.

Luckily, other activities can generate a spurt of endorphins such as physical exercise (Crossfit for me!), creative work, and even playing video games. Therefore by making a move toward these types of activity instead of shopping, just for the sake of it, can help you not unnecessarily waste your hard earned cash.

Suffering from a poor credit score

Finally, a way that many families are wasting money is by not dealing with their credit score. This is because the lower your score, the higher the interest rate you will be charged on every loan you get.

What that means is that by repairing your credit score you can prevent the wasting money in the future by paying more in interest fees, or even maybe avoid using credit altogether!

You work hard for your money to bring it in, so don’t let it leave so easily. Work to reduce or even eliminate waste in your financial life!

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