As you continue to live in this fast-paced world, you try to keep track of your expenses and do the budgeting yourself, cut down on discretionary spending, but no matter how hard you try, nothing happens; your money still slips as fast as it can right after receiving your paycheck! Here are some of the most commonly overlooked expenses that significantly take a chunk of your hard-earned money.
1. Gadget Upgrades
Every year, your favorite phone brand releases a new model, enticing users to upgrade their phones with the latest release in the market. So, what makes the latest model better than your old one? It could be having a better camera, a bigger screen size or capacity, or a faster processor. The list of added features can be long enough that you find it hard to resist; add to it the prestige of having the latest model. The same goes for any gadget in the market: be it for gaming, a laptop, or a tablet.
Very often, gadget purchases are made out of impulse, and you do not think twice, even if your phone is still working well.
2. Subscription Services
In the past, we already had store and gym memberships, but in this digital age, subscription services like Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and cloud storage are among the many subscriptions that you may have. As these subscriptions offer much convenience, they also can pile up without you noticing that you have been paying a lot for them monthly. Sometimes, you forget they are tied or automatically billed to your card, and some are even unused.
3. Wi-Fi
Most businesses offer free Wi-Fi to attract customers, and this is true especially for restaurants, cafes, and even bookshops. For businesses, this can be an additional expense on top of their usual overhead, while for customers, this can be the reason for your frequent return to the place aside from their main offer. But you cannot simply connect unless you buy from them, so you shell out from your pockets.
4. High-Interest Debt
How many of you have credit cards? Unmanaged credit card debts can silently kill your finances. While you try to pay only the minimum monthly payments, interest can pile up over time without you noticing, and in some cases, it can double, making it challenging for you to pay the principal debt.
5. Coffee
How many cups of coffee do you gulp in a day? You have a coffee maker at home, but it can be that you are too tired to prepare your own drink or you just want something fancy. If you drop by your favorite coffee shop at least once daily, multiply that by the number of days in a month or year. That alone can sum up to a hefty amount. Add to it pastries, which you pair with your favorite drink.
6. Eating Out at Restaurants
Dining out at restaurants can be very convenient, especially if you are busy, but that can also be expensive. Of course, you deserve a delicious meal to reward yourself once in a while, but dining out too frequently, even if it is just for lunch during workdays, can add up to a substantial portion of your monthly expenses.
7. Low-Quality Items
If you thought you were wise enough to buy cheap items, you are definitely wrong. Buying inexpensive and low-quality items can cost you more over time because you will need to repurchase a replacement of the previously non-working item, and this can be a cycle if you buy the same low-quality replacement.
8. Convenience Fees
You enjoy food deliveries, don’t you? Apart from making your life a lot easier, as you need not prepare food for yourself and your family, these delivery services are not for free as it comes with a convenience fee. Aside from that, you should know that these food delivery apps charge more than the prices in-store, and you need to pay for the delivery charge.
9. Late Payment Fees
Sometimes, you miss a payment for certain bills, so late payment fees are charged on top of the interest fees that may be charged. These fees can hurt your finances, and should this happen frequently, the more you spend on late interest fees.
10. Disposable Items
You love to use disposable items because they are convenient to use. Among these items would be paper plates, cutlery, and paper towels. For some, you may reason out that you save on water and dishwashing soaps or electricity for your dishwashers. But what about paper towels? If you total your spending on these items, you will be surprised by how much you should have saved, not to mention all these items add up to the world’s never-ending trash.
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