What are some bad habits that waste money that most people don't consider to be bad?

[jeffrey]

I know this is a generalization and there are exceptions to the rule, but I consider watching TV to be a bad habit that wastes a lot of money which most people would not consider to be "bad" in the same sense as smoking or heavy drinking. What are some of the other habits that you see others do that society considers acceptable, but you consider to be bad and a waste of money in some way?

[cschin4]

Buying a $400 purse. I just don't GET that at all! But, if you have the money and that's your thing , enjoy.

[Retired To Win]

A Really Bad Habit: Buying for Show Instead of Utility

Keeping up with the Joneses has got to be the worst possible financial habit I can think of, and yet it is one practiced by millions without even realizing it.

Thinking of a car as a status symbol instead of as a means of transportation will cause a person to unnecessarily spend tens of thousands of dollars that could otherwise have been used -- one way or another -- to actually improve one's life or to dramatically shorten the wait to reach retirement.

Thinking of a house as a place to show off instead of as a place to live is even worse. That can cause the unnecessary expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and likely permanently chain you to your job.

Not for me, thank you. I'd rather be free.


Retired to Win
making the most of my time and my money

[gogirlanime]

1. At least 90% of all purchases of all kind. Because we as a society are pretty pathetic if you think about it. We're always keeping up with the Jones' for no reason. We waste our lives and money trying to impress people who don't care. Spend your time and money dong what you really want and 90% of your purchases wouldn't exist
2. Starbucks coffee twice a day
3. Diamond rings, the only reason you want a huge one is to feel more important, but when you get down to it you are just wearing a $30,000 rock on your finger that had a 3% chance of being a blood diamond. I mean do you really get $30,000 worth of enjoyment looking at it for 3 seconds once a day. I think you could get 100x the happiness spending that $30,000 on something else
4. Specific cleaning supplies and specific kitchen appliances. Like an egg cooker, ever heard of a pot? Or swifter sweeper, ever heard of sweeping? Magic bullet, how about a blender and a cup. Most of these things give you a very small fraction of convenience or save you time yet we buy sooooo many of them, wasting time
5. Designer purses, it's just another thing to give you a false sense of being more important, you are still just another human being like everything else
6. Alcohol, bad for your physical and mental health, expensive, leads to bad decisions, tastes bad, and is only used to make you temporarily forget the problems you are to scared to face yourself.

[GrimJack]

For me, I will not buy cable because 'why should I pay good money for bad tv' and I already watch too much. I am paying a lot of money for DSL when I could just go hang out in a coffee shop.

[bjl584]

Trading your car in every few years and always having a payment. It's almost like people just expect you to have a payment.

[snafu]

Not looking after your money is a bad habit. I'm shocked that people are paying so much interest on items on their Credit Cards, Car Loans, Student Loans and mortgage. Buying stuff because you can manage to make the minimum payment isn't smart. Paying minimum CC payments for disposables like gas and restaurant meals is a horrible habit. Using shopping as entertainment and buying stuff on impulse just ands up as clutter needing to be looked after.

I observed a couple buying a Washer/Dryer yesterday. They came into the area with an ad/flyer for the set they planned to buy. In a few moments the salesman was up-selling having explained they were disposing of last year's model since the new ones had more features and better colors. What! since when does the colour of an appliance affect it's operation? I wonder if DW will use the extra features. I wonder how much interest they'll pay for the appliances. I wondered if they'll even ask for free delivery and removal of the existing appliances.

[YLTL_Dan]

My favorite "bad habit" is a car payment. Another bad habit can be couponing because a lot of people buy crap they don't need in the name of "saving money".

[ua_guy]

Eating out. We don't eat out a lot, and we're almost social outcasts because of it. Oh well...want to eat with us? Come over, but don't invite us out to spend ridiculous amounts of money on fancy food.

Coffee. The $5/day coffee habit. Coffee is important to me too, but I'm amazed at the people that put a coffee shop on their daily donation list for some beans and water all done up. It's possible to still be creative with coffee, but for much cheaper.

Disposable razors.

The never-ending automotive lease (yeah, but I always have a late model, reliable vehicle) -and a hole in the bank account.

[TheKayla]

The 'I deserve this after' or 'retail therapy'. I'll walk around the mall every now and then when bored to look at cool things and enjoy browsing, but I never buy a think I can't afford at the time. I never blow half of a check just because I worked hard on a project. I keep everything aligned with my goals despite my emotions. Far too many people feel deserving after working hard of spending more money, when really the reward doesn't need to necessarily revolve around so materialistic/expensive.

[Gailete]

Buying a $400 purse. I just don't GET that at all! But, if you have the money and that's your thing , enjoy.

That is one I really don't understand each. I remember sitting in the doctor's office one day looking at a magazine with an ad for a purse for $18,000!!! Yes amount of zeros is correct. I carry a tote bag I made or a bigger tote bag the library gave me with a zipper purse that I embroidered myself.

3. Diamond rings, the only reason you want a huge one is to feel more important, but when you get down to it you are just wearing a $30,000 rock on your finger that had a 3% chance of being a blood diamond. I mean do you really get $30,000 worth of enjoyment looking at it for 3 seconds once a day. I think you could get 100x the happiness spending that $30,000 on something else

I worked with a girl once that wore that much on her fingers. I didn't understand it either. My hubby and I found my engagement ring at a jewelry store estate sale. Neither one of us like anything the other thought was nice and then we both saw my ring and at the same said we loved it. I had always wanted a ruby ring as red is my favorite color, and this one had a ruby in the center and 12 tiny diamonds around it. We paid $450 for it. I can guarantee you that I look at it more than 3 seconds a day. I love this ring and probably spend at least 5 minutes a day in total looking at it. On 9-11 when we packed up to leave our office I didn't realize it had fallen off until later and when we did, we were on hands and knees in the yard, in the house and then finally drove back to my work and found it in my laptop bag. That ring is precious to us. I also found hubbies ring at an estate sale of jewelry at another shop. It was exactly the ring he had wanted and in his size and at 1/4 of the price (around $125) and still looked brand new. We cherish these pieces and I sure wouldn't give them up for any $30K rock.

We watch TV for free and aren't generally influenced by the sale pitches, but I think many people are influenced and for that reason a lot of folks should turn it off. It gives them unrealistic ideas of how people live and the kind of homes and clothing they can afford on their TVLand low paying jobs. Everyone on TV has the latest cell phone and if you don't drop it in your drink or into the microwave so you have an excuse for another.

Most people don't consider it bad to waste money on disposable diapers and act like those of us that espouse their use are lunatics. I used cloth diapers for 5 solid years and 30 years later I am here to talk about it. It didn't kill me and one of the most soothing aspects of my day with my new baby was folding diapers every other day (sometimes fresh out of the dryer other times fresh off the line as the dryer ALWAYS broke when a new baby was born). So many people have so many ideas of what their children need to have to turn out well, and at least 90% of it is nonsense. You can toilet train a baby without buying a book called "Everyone Poops"!

[disneysteve]

Leasing cars. This is a huge one. I've read that this year 25% of new cars were leased. One in four people chose to rent instead of buy. That's awful. Leasing is the most expensive way to acquire a vehicle. Ironically, the people doing it are often the ones who can least afford it. I know numerous lower income folks who lease because they feel they can't afford to buy. They are fooled by the low lease payments because they compare that to the payment on a purchase of the same car. What they really should be doing, of course, is buying a used car. That would have a much lower payment, comparable to the lease, but after a few years, they would own the car free and clear and be payment free. Instead, they put themselves into what is often an endless cycle of eternal payments.

And it isn't just low income folks. My business partner leases his BMW. I've been with him almost 14 years and he is on his 7th car during that time, getting a new one every 2 years. In contrast, I had the same paid for car from the time I joined him in 2000 (bought it used in 1998) until July 2012 when I replaced it with another used car which has since been paid off so I'm payment free again and intend to stay that way for hopefully 8-10 years.

[TBH]

* drink alcohol
* buy televisions (our friends usually have a big old tube TV to give away when we need one. we're on our 3rd hand-me-down TV, have never bought one)
* pay for cable
* manicures, pedicures, expensive hair treatments
* weddings (seriously, tends of thousands of dollars just for one stressful day of your life? I think this is a huge waste of money)

[dojo]

Most people don't consider it bad to waste money on disposable diapers and act like those of us that espouse their use are lunatics. I used cloth diapers for 5 solid years and 30 years later I am here to talk about it. It didn't kill me and one of the most soothing aspects of my day with my new baby was folding diapers every other day (sometimes fresh out of the dryer other times fresh off the line as the dryer ALWAYS broke when a new baby was born). So many people have so many ideas of what their children need to have to turn out well, and at least 90% of it is nonsense. You can toilet train a baby without buying a book called "Everyone Poops"!

30 years ago my folks used 'normal' diapers too, because they didn't have an alternative. Now we have it and I'll surely NOT waste time and money cleaning the diapers, when I can just throw them away. Our baby will probably use up $500 worth of diapers (am talking prices in my country and the fact I don't plan on keeping her in diapers till she's 3). I don't want to think how much water, detergent and electricity I'd be wasting trying to wash the cloth diapers, not to mention the MONEY I'd not be making.

I am working from home, so in my case freeing up some time each day to earn a living is very important. Husband and I both have our small businesses and I can't take a 'sabbatical' for months to wash diapers, just because some people consider I'm wasting money on disposables. I'll have to juggle caring for my newborn and earning money at the same time. With a single web design contract I can pay for all the diapers already, so I'd rather get the contracts and earn money than feel like in the '80s again

Not to mention we have already stocked up on diapers in the past months, we're almost covered for at least 4 months. We bought them at sale prices, so it's not even a huge burden for us. We also have other 'gadgets' that will earn us more TIME, which does cost quite a lot when you're trying to put food on the table and also be there for the child. For me it's more important to spend some extra minutes with the baby, than to wash, fold, manage diapers.

Back on the main topic, in my opinion, the biggest money wasters for many families are:
1. smoking / drinking out
2. eating out
3. getting a new car every 3-4 years, when their current car can run at least 10 years without a hitch.
4. getting a new phone/tablet/[gadget] as soon as a new version hits the market
5. not paying debt sooner
6. buying on credit, instead of saving money
7. never having an emergency fund
8. wasting money on luxury items they don't really need, just to impress etc.

[Gailete]

and the fact I don't plan on keeping her in diapers till she's 3).

The best laid plans can go awry. My last son was autistic and even though I had managed to potty train the older and the little girl I babysat before he was born. even with help from the youngest's teacher at his preschool for developmentally delayed children, he wasn't potty trained and out of diapers for good till he was 3 1/2. Certainly wasn't for lack of trying on our part or being a lazy mother. I sincerely wish you the healthiest baby in the world, but babies don't always cooperate with plans made before they were born.

For many people they look at doing cloth diapers are an arduous lot of work, but as long as you have a washing machine, it really doesn't take much more time than for most to run off to the store every time they are out of disposables.

I realize that this is a personal decision with everyone, but the title of this thread is "What are some bad habits that waste money that most people don't consider to be bad?" Many make the decision to use disposables based on nothing more than it is what everyone else is doing. Disposables weren't in my budget when my sons were babies, but many people with my same kind of budget and lifestyle used disposables and I can only assume that they gave up something else in their lives only not sure what. Since at that point I was super frugal, I couldn't think of any other way to proceed.

One of the advantages we have these days for everything from raising kids to figuring out cheap ways to deal with death, is we now have the internet and can search for money saving ideas. Back 30 years ago you were stuck with the one or two books you might find on the topic frugal living at your local library. Then there was an explosion of newsletters, books etc. on frugal living, couponing and rebates (with REAL savings back then) and the movement still grows.

One bad habit some people have is using the computer and internet only for entertainment purposes instead of educational purposes. So very many things you can learn just by following one thread. You can learn things to improve your current work at your job, find ideas and the ways and means to make more money, use it for part time earning, etc. Make that computer and internet fee pay for itself! but of course those folks aren't reading in this kind of forum.