Even the most frugal person can miss an opportunity to save money. There are sneaky ways that your cash gets away from you every week. Here are a few chances to save money that you may not even be aware of.
7 Money-Saving Tips for Everyday Life
Premium Fuel
Very few cars require premium gasoline, but there are many people who buy them anyway. Unless your owner’s manual states that premium gasoline is required, you are wasting 20 cents on every gallon you buy.
Giving Tips
Generous tipping is a complete waste of money. Yes, servers depend on tips for the majority of their income, but over tipping is wasteful. The biggest waste of money is tipping for poor service. If you receive poor service, leave a single penny so the server knows you didn’t forget. If they do not make enough money, maybe they will switch to a job they are more suited for.
Organic Food Can Waste Money
Organic produce is shamefully over-priced. Buy the conventionally grown produce and wash it.
Medications
Generic medications are held to the same standards by the FDA. Why would you pay for name brand medication?
Bottled Water is a Big Money Waster
Bottled water is such a hoax, yet so many people still buy it. Many times the water simply comes from another city’s water supply anyway. Buy a filter for your faucet or a filtered pitcher and a filtered water bottle if you feel you must ”clean” your water.
Fast Shipping
Expedited shipping is a sucker’s bet. Is it really necessary to have something the next day? Consider this, a box of business cards will cost about $6 for snail mail shipping and take up to seven whole business days to arrive. Next day shipping will cost around $56. Can you think of any situation that would justify paying an extra $50 for shipping?
New Cars
Buying a brand new automobile is the best way to lose forty percent of your investment in the world. Not only will you lose that much value, but it will only take three years to do it. Of course, if no one bought new cars, there wouldn’t be any used ones to buy, but no one says you have to be the heel that does the buying.
There are plenty of other ways to waste money; however, these are seven of the most common ways. In fact, I’d go so far as to estimate that everyone reading this has fallen prey to least half of these money-sucking pitfalls. How much could you save if you tigthened the reins in these seven areas?
Taylor Brown is a finance blogger and regular contributor to Special Finance Car Loan. He always advises consumers to purchase pre-owned vehicles, as stated in this article, because of the steep depreciation associated with new cars and trucks.