Six Ways You Waste Money

Have you ever considered just how much money a typical person waste every year? What could you do if you took the money you have needlessly wasted and applied it to your debit or even better,starting an investment portfolio for your retirement. Not many people consider, especially younger adults, there finical future. While most middle age adults get stuck in a rut of credit card debit. There has been more of a turn recently considering the down turn of the economy from 2007 to 2009. And the good news about this more of us are saving and cutting down on debit.

Here are six ways you can avoid wasting money.

1. Convenience Stores These stores provide a convenience to everyone. Meaning you pay a premium price for there items including gas. Why? lets say you go to the grocery store and buy a 12 pk of drinks for around $4.00. You stop by a convenience store during the week and buy the same single serve drink for a $1.00, then you would pay $12.00 for the whole 12 pack rather than paying .33 cents for each drink at a grocery store. Now consider the very high markup you just payed for convenience, a whopping 67% markup over the grocery store. You can save a lot of dough by shopping smart and buying in quantities.

2. Cell Phone Plans The second way you can save money is buy paying attention to your cell phone bill each and every month. Lets say you have a plan that cost you $40.00 a month but on an average you tend to exceed your plan minutes by 100 minutes a month. This will cost you around $40 to $50 dollars more each month. Sit down with your provider and work out a better plan for what you are using. Most of the time you can change plans without affecting the term of your contract. You could end up saving hundreds of dollars a year by making this change.

3.Restaurant-Soft Drinks One of the biggest markups restaurants have is on selling you drinks. On an average if you spend $2.00 for each drink you buy from them it can add up over a period of a year when you dine out ! Lets look at this closer, Say you have a family of 4 that eats out once a week. Each of you order a drink @ $2.00 each, you have just spent $8.00 before you even order your meal. To understand this, you are spending $8.00 a week on drinks times 52 weeks a year for a total cost of $416.00. You can save this amount just by ordering water which cost you nothing. Saving this amount can be directed towards retirement or paying down your debit.

4. Unnecessary Bank Fees I have recently wrote about the enormous fees bank charge there customers. Take for example, Your short on cash and you spot a ATM you zip your card in and bam it spits out the money you requested. Again, this is related to convenience and you pay for this dearly. On an average you will have to pay your bank $2.00 and the ATM owner up to $5.00 for each transaction. Just to take out $20.00 will end up costing you 35%. These fees can be saved just simply plan out your daily finical activities and avoid using ATM's.

5. Magazines With the expansion of the internet and the availability of articles on News Groups and other Free sites, Magazines are becoming a dinosaur. Take for example just one magazine can cost you $5 to $10 dollars just for one copy. If you just have to have these books then consider subscribing to them on an annual basis. You can save 50% to 60% off the news stand price and this can add up especially if you have several magazines you buy frequently.

6. Annual Credit Card Fees The final way you can save, take a look at your annual credit card fees. If you have good credit history, shop around, and find credit card companies that don't charge annual fees this can save you hundreds of dollars each year.Unfortunately, for the ones who have less than perfect credit you will end up paying a annual fee. However, shop around you might be surprised and find a company that will offer you a low annual fee and percentage rate.

In close there is nothing wrong with saving money. Making it a daily habit will bring yourself finical rewards. Always compare prices at different stores especially on big ticket items. Being impulsive when making a purchase is what the stores hope you do. Never buy anything without first comparing and adding the cost into your monthly budget. Buying in bulk saves you money and using coupons will help cut your cost of food and other necessities.

Money Guy