5 Ways You’re Mindlessly Wasting Money, According to Frugal Living Expert Austin Williams
Written by
Nicole Symon
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Molly Sullivan
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Everyone wants a good value for their money, but what does that mean? In a YouTube video, frugal living expert Austin Williams argued that people spend thousands of dollars per year on things that don’t bring them any value. And that’s just a waste.
Go through his list of five ways people mindlessly waste money to see if any apply to you. If they do, you can cut those items out, freeing up room in your budget for more important things.
Buying Things You Won’t Use
Williams suggested that people have some “pure wasteful habits,” which is when you buy things you simply won’t use. He gives a personal example of going to the grocery store and repeatedly buying hummus and carrots as a snack. Sounds good, except he never ends up eating them. So, the $7 he spends on those items is pure waste. It’s like throwing his money straight into the trash.
You probably have one or two wasteful habits in your life without even realizing it. The average U.S. consumer spends over $150 per month on impulse buys, and a lot of those items fit into this category. So, try to think about the things you regularly get rid of or throw out. Are any of them things you could just stop buying entirely?
Examples Williams listed include impulse purchases at Target and lottery tickets, but your pure waste purchases could be anything you don’t use. Identify them and then resist the urge to buy them again next time around.
Spending Too Much on Certain Things
According to Williams, you may have another type of wasteful habit — an excessive wasteful habit. He defined an excessive wasteful habit as something that you overdo to the point that you’re no longer getting as much value out of it. For example, his excessive wasteful habit was eating out at restaurants too often, spending $50 to $75 per week.
The key to these habits is that you don’t need to stop them altogether. Williams even said, “I don’t want to quit eating out because it does add value into my life.” Instead, you should work on cutting back on these habits so they’re not excessive.
When you cut back a bit, you’ll actually get more enjoyment and value from the items you’re purchasing. They’ll be more special.
Not Finding Alternate Solutions
If you have pure or excessive wasteful habits, there’s probably a reason behind them. Williams suggested, “Ask yourself, ‘Why am I doing this and what’s the solution?'”
Going back to his example of eating out too much, he realized that the reason he was overdoing it was because he was too lazy to cook. Then, the question is, what’s a better solution than just going out to eat all the time?
Williams decided batch-cooking meals would be a great option for him. With batch-cooking, he has ready-made food that he can heat up anytime without needing to pay for restaurant meals. Now, when he goes to a restaurant, it feels more like a treat worth spending extra money on.
Think about the possible reasons behind your wasteful habits and what alternative solutions you could use instead.
Not Setting Rules
When you have bad spending habits in place, it can be hard to break them. You’ll probably still be tempted even once you identify them and know why you’re wasting money. That’s why Williams recommended setting rules you’re not allowed to break.
For example, he set himself the rules of never eating out more than once a day and never two days in a row. Then, he just has to remind himself of these rules when he’s tempted to go out to eat too often.
Your rules can be anything that works to help keep your wasteful spending habits in check. If your habit is too much online shopping, Williams suggested a rule of only being allowed to buy things on the weekend. By the time the weekend rolls around, you may no longer want the item you were looking at earlier in the week. The rule helps curb impulse spending.
Not Limiting Your Spending
A similar mistake Williams mentioned is not setting limits on how much you can spend. Having a set budget gives you a concrete number to keep in mind. Then, when you hit that limit, you know it’s time to stop.
For example, say you spend too much money on clothes. Williams recommended setting a $100 monthly limit on clothes to “help you establish boundaries and prevent something from becoming excessive.” Adjust your limits to your habits, goals and budget.
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