Good intentions aside, we all waste money, which makes me remember what Will Rogers has rightly remarked: “Too many people spend money they earned…to buy things they don’t want…to impress people that they don’t like.” Everyone, yes, including you and I, wastes money. We can’t help it until we recognize the patterns that cause us to waste money and take conscious efforts to curb such behaviors. Read on to find out some of the many ways in which you might be wasting your hard-earned money.
Personal vehicles are at the top of the list of items that we usually spend more than what is necessary. As a result, more often than not, we end up buying luxury vehicles not because we really need it but because someone else we know has a similar one. And sometimes, we buy vehicles with high-engine capacity suited for Formula 1 tracks to drive on roads that even can’t support a quarter of the vehicle’s top speed. We also have a tendency to buy AWD SUVs just for daily commuting and never take it on an off-road trip. This is nothing but a huge waste of money. But more than wasting money, this causes extra pollution because of the higher capacity engines.
Mobile gadgets and computing devices are other items that we all spend too much on. While there is no contention that mobile and computing devices are a necessity for modern life, we all have a tendency to seek more computing power and more storage space than what we actually require and at a premium. And rather than considering the value of the device gives us over money and the selecting right equipment that suits our requirements, we go for expensive brands that are synonymous with luxury. The point is that when we buy quality gadgets and devices that meet our requirements, we can save more money.
Some of our recreational habits like alcohol and cigarette consumption can also cause you to bleed a considerable amount of money. And while it’s true that these habits cannot be stopped overnight, engaging in games of skill like chess and poker is a good way to divert your attention from bad habits. Once the interest and proficiency in the game increases, you are likely to avoid your previous bad habits and the unnecessary wasting of money. You might even be good enough to be a professional like Bobby Fischer or Chris Moneymaker, who both initially took up chess and poker respectively as a pastime activity, but later became professionals.
Clothing is an equally important category of everyday item that drains a lot of money. The recent trend is that we follow certain brands and their ambassadors and buy whatever new products they release/endorse, a concept called “keeping up with the Joneses”. Quite often though, we forget that these brands are profiting off of exorbitantly high prices while we are struggling to keep ourselves up to date with the latest trends. Buying locally available clothing and accessories of sufficient quality can save you more than what you could imagine.
Though you may not agree initially, food is a category of everyday item that we waste a lot of money. As per the data projected by the Food and Agriculture Organization, around 1.3 billion tons or approximately one-third of the food produced every year for human consumption gets lost or wasted. To be clearer, food loss and wastage adds up to around $680 billion USD and $310 billion USD in industrialized countries and developing countries, respectively. Food wastage at the household level arises mainly by buying and cooking more. This can be prevented by stopping ourselves from considering food as a luxurious commodity and by demanding or cooking just what is necessary.
The wasting of money is never a desirable character, whether it is knowingly or unknowingly. More than just a personal problem, it is also a drain on the resources of the country and the world as a whole. Thus, it all of our responsibility to identify and stop wastage of money no matter what form.
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