Top 10 Money Wasters from Hloom
June 7, 2016
An interesting tidbit, spoofee.com published today that Hloom had researched and published a list of money wasters that people can save money on:
Top 10 Money Wasters that people are willing to reduce
1. Eating Out
2. Alcohol or Drinking
3. Credit Card interest
4. Clothes
5. Electricity
6. Cigarettes
7. Heating or AC
8. Unreturned Items
9. Convenience Packaging
10. Lottery or Gambling
OK, so a lot of good things to cut back on, including alcohol, cigarettes, credit card interest (but gambling comes below clothes?). These are the things people are unwilling to cut back on:
Top 10 Money Wasters that people are not willing to reduce
1. Uneaten Food
2. Grocery Items
3. Hobbies & Activities
4. Entertainment
5. Streaming Services
6. Cable or Digital TV
7. Cell Phone
8. Tech Gadgets
9. Car or Gas
10. Bottled Water
I think we can have a field day with these. For example, let’s take bottled water, if you have a good filter in your house and a water bottle, why would you want to waste money on buying bottled water? Uneaten food, let’s hope that is to be used for lunch the follow day. Grocery items, hhmm, perhaps you could plant some foods of your own, which should be organic and very fresh and tasty? Hobbies and activities, how about cheaper ones that you can do nearby, for me living on the cost, I particularly like surfing, once you have the board and wetsuit, it’s free! Cable and Digital TV, why on earth would you pay for this when there are so many good alternatives, such as Netflix or even amazon prime video.
Cell phones, OK, so I can see big savings potential here. I a currently using FreedomPop, with a premium upgrade that let’s me roll over unused data up to 20GB total, and that costs me a huge $7.99 a month, with no contract. I’m using a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone, which is really great and it is even waterproof to a certain degree! A while back I had a Verizon phone costing me around 80 bucks a month for a two-year contract, and then more recently I switched to virgin mobile, costing me originally at $25 a month before switching phones and a price increase by Virgin to $35 a month with no contract. If I had kept my Verizon phone, I would be paying an extra 1728.24 over the two year contract!
Tech gadgets, yes they can be highly seductive new toys, so at least try and find a used one on ebay or craigslist to maximize your savings. Remember there will likely be an upgrade the following year that has new a cooler features, and your current gadget is likely to be out of date in a couple of years. Try and find a price optimum, as early adopters can pay heavily for the very latest tech.
Car and Gas, why are you not riding your bike? Maybe you work too far away, or it’s dangerous to bike on large roads near you. I strongly suggest that you go for a car with great gas mileage, because otherwise you are quite literally burning your money up in smoke, as well as polluting the air we breath. How about a used Gen II or Gen III prius, Honda civic, or the more recent mazda3 and certain Toyota corolla levels, as these all get 40mpg plus, and are some of the most reliable cars out there.