Hey there! How you doing today? Having fun? Living the dream? Me too!

Today I wanted to to create a list of 13 expenses you need to cut from your budget and explain to you a little bit of why I think they’re unnecessary. I know that everybody’s life is a little bit different so some of these expenses seem silly to some, but others view them as necessary. It all depends on your perspective!

Our blog posts often contain affiliate links, you can learn more in our very long (and very boring) affiliate disclosure!

Before we start, I just wanted to let you know that we recently created a FREE email course all about budgeting that I think you’ll love! It’s called 5 Days to a Beautiful Budget and you can subscribe to it below!

 

13 Expenses You Need To CUT From Your Budget

#1 – Bank Fees

Last year, I was paying $14.99 each month to just have the luxury of using my money. How silly is that? I decided I was done and transferred to a no-fee bank account and it’s saving me $180 a year which isn’t something to laugh about!

Paying bank fees is one of the worst uses of your money and it’s pretty easily solvable! There are new no-fee banks popping up everywhere and most of them are really easy to join and have better customer service than the big boys anyway!

Where my fellow Canadians at? Woop, Woop! I signed up with Tangerine and I’ve never been happier with my banking in my entire life. If you use my orange code (50681730S1) when signing up for Tangerine they’ll give you $50 FREE when you make your first deposit of $100 or more.

#2 – Bottled Water

This may not seem like the biggest deal but buying a case of bottled water each week can really add up. It’s even worse if you’re buying bottled water at corner stores every day on the way to work! This can run you anywhere from $2-$20 a week. The solution? Getting a quality reusable water bottle and a Brita water filter to keep delicious water in your fridge all the time!

#3 – Coin-Counting Machines

This one isn’t a weekly or even monthly expense, but it’s a waste of money nonetheless! When you use machines like coin star you give up 13% of all the money you put in. This means if you have $100 in change, you give them $13. The solution? Buy yourself some inexpensive paper coin rollers and do it at home. It only takes about an hour a year and you can save yourself that 13%.

#4 – Expensive Credit Reports

When you look up “how to check my credit score” on Google, a lot of the pages are recommending that you pay for your credit report when you just don’t have to! You get one free credit report every year and you can also use websites like Credit Karma to access a credit score whenever you like without it causing your score to go down!

It’s really important to always be aware of your credit score and how it works, so don’t take this as “don’t ever get a credit score”! Just find less expensive ways to get access to it.

#5 – Warranties

I’m pretty sure warranties are the biggest waste of money 99.9% of the time. How many times have you paid for a warranty and the product breaks two weeks after it expires? Or does that only happen to me…

Most of the time salespeople only try and sell you warranties because they get a really huge commission on them. They may only make $50 on the sale of that $500 TV but if they sell you a $150 warranty, they’ll make another $100. That’s the only reason they get pushed so darn hard at stores!

You’re better of just setting up sinking funds and being prepared for when something breaks.

#6 – Landlines

Any time someone under the age of 50 tells me that they still have a land line phone I get a little spooked. Why are you wasting money by having both a cell phone and a land line?

We live in an age of constant innovation, you can make phone calls from anywhere in the world on a small computer you keep in your pocket! Why waste money on using some old school technology?

#7 – Physical Newspapers/Magazines

Not only are newspapers and magazines bad for your wallet, they’re also bad for the environment. You can get just about every single article and piece of information in these newspapers and magazines online (usually for free!).

#8 – Car Payments

Having a car payment is one of the biggest symptoms of keeping up with the Joneses. Did you know that a 10 year old car can drive you to the same places that a brand new car can? You don’t need to buy a brand new car when you can’t even afford the monthly payment!

Should you ever finance a new car? Find out here!

#9 – Cable

Isn’t it crazy that people still have traditional cable packages with the invention of Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube? Cable is a very expensive way to watch television, and should be one of the first things to be cut from your budget.

If you have a favourite show that you can’t get on Netflix, chances are you can find it on that TV network’s website!

#10 – Alcohol

I’m not saying you aren’t ever able to drink alcohol, having a few drinks is a lot of fun in moderation. When you’re starting to budget, you need to realize that alcohol isn’t a necessity in your life.

If you’re starting a budget, chances are you’re experiencing some kind of financial woes and need to create a plan. The first thing to do is eliminate all non-necessity expenses and really start being smarter with where you money goes!

#11 – Credit Card Insurance

When I was 18 and got my first credit card, the person on the phone activating it convinced me to get balance protection insurance. This insurance protects your balance when sometime bad happens (death, disability, etc).

If you’re being smart with your credit cards, you should never have a balance super high where you aren’t able to pay it back, so this is a huge waste of money.

#12 – Lottery Tickets

This one is the most related to mindset. Did you know that most people who are making $100,000 a year or more never play the lottery? People who know how to handle their money, and make good money, aren’t going to throw money away with the hopes of maybe winning big.

You need to start making smart moves towards a better financial future, and spending $10 a week to have a chance at a big pot, isn’t going to get you anywhere.

#13 – Dryer Sheets

This is one thing that people don’t think about when they buy it. We don’t want static filled clothes, so we need to purchase traditional dryer sheets, right? Wrong.

There are reusable alternatives to dryer sheets that you can get for under $15 and never have to replace (unless you lose them, haha).

 

Final Thoughts

If you can cut even just a few of these expenses each month you can save hundreds of dollars a year! That’s a great way to reach more of your goals, don’t you think? Let me know in the comments below which of these 13 expenses you need to cut from your budget you think is the most valuable and which you’d be willing to eliminate!

Thanks for reading,

xo Taylor O’Halloran

 

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