Some of us have great difficulty keeping track of our money. The more we try to hold on to it, the more it seems to slip through our hands as if it’s sand. We lay the whole blame on bills and taxes, unaware that some of our own habits drain the majority of it.
Following are some common bad habits that you can avoid to keep money from disappearing from your wallet:
Using other Bank ATMs
It is quite likely that you hold an account with a bank which doesn’t have many ATMs spread across the town. When we are in dire need of cash we may or may not find our bank’s ATM. This means that we often end up using ATMs of other banks which may carry extra fees.
If you reside in the UK it may not be much of a problem as there are close to 54,000 ATMs which are free to use cash machines. However, there are still 16,000 ATMs throughout the UK that will charge you extra fees on withdrawal. But there are still many countries in the world which do not make use of free to use cash machines.
Failing to Keep Track of Change
We’re so obsessed with the notes that we often lose track of where their younger siblings go. It’s a classic example of focusing on the bigger picture and neglecting the smaller one.
It happens to most people around us, we take our car through a restaurant’s drive-through where some change is handed over to us. In our eagerness to drive out, we stash the change away in our dashboards, pockets and then forget about it until they reappear. Sometimes they remain in our pants and get washed along with our other laundry.
It may help to have a designated location where you store all the change that you receive. While it’s not a trick that can make you rich, it will atleast make you richer by a few pounds and pence.
Food Wastage
Besides being immoral, wasting food also costs us dearly. According to a House of Commons report, nearly 7.3 million tonnes of food was wasted which came at a heavy cost of £13 billion. A simple resolution to not waste food can enable us to save at least hundreds of pounds each year.
You can ensure that no food gets wasted in your household by purchasing only the amount of food that you actually consume. You should also keep track of which food items are nearing their expiry date and consume them before the bin does.
Not Following up on Rebates
We often get cash rebates on our purchases and all we need to do avail them is send the company a mail or use the coupon code the next time we are making a similar purchase. But sometimes we can be as forgetful as we can be lazy and completely let go of these little perks. It may be a small amount of saving on each transaction but it can amount to much over the period of a year or two.
Paying Late Fees
Another trait of the lazy and forgetful is missing out on due dates. There is not a single soul on this planet (except the tribes and the poor) who isn’t guilty of missing payments.
These payments actually hurt. Because the wicked companies out there are simply punishing us for our little endearing flaws. You can make it a point to stop donating money to these companies by paying your bills on time.
Idle Memberships
Each of us have experienced that pseudo motivation for an activity. We get carried away and it is a tendency many institutions feast upon. Especially the gyms, libraries, golf clubs, sport centres and online entertainment which specialise in misleading the innocent.
They show us dreams that taking their yearly subscription can change our lives forever. If you have any such membership that is idle at the moment you should make it a point to unsubscribe them before they cost you any more.
By saving on these unnecessary expenses you can have a lot of money at your disposal to invest in fun things that you are actually fond of. If your friend is about to get married, you can use the money that you have saved for booking great stag do or hen do venues. Anything that you do will be better than spending money on the things that have been mentioned above.