Bad Spending Habits

Victoria recently had an Interview with Chellie Mills, KFOR News Channel 4, in which she discussed four things we could do to break our bad spending habits. This was probably the only Interview Victoria has done in the last month that has not been about the market. I don't know about her, but it was kind of refreshing for me!

Anyway, here are the four that Victoria talked about...

1. Plan before you shop - make a budget and stick with it. Also make a list of things you are shopping for. This helps you keep your budget.

2. Take cash with you - I believe the statistic is that we, on average, spend 33% more when we use cards instead of cash. Wow!

3. Distinguish between needs and wants - sounds simple, but is especially hard for us ladies...you know what I mean. Of course, I could say the same thing for you men and your electronics...but I won't...

4. Spend Smart - there are things you can do, like; spending $1 for a 7-Eleven coffee instead of $4 for a Starbucks coffee, or taking your lunch to work instead of eating out (you can save an average of $2,350/year when doing this!)

Those are the four points that Victoria discussed. Here's some interesting facts that I found;

-A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina bottled water costs about $1. One bottle of water per day costs $365 per year. It costs the environment plenty, too. When my husband and I moved two years ago, we didn't much care for our tap water, so for the first time ever we starting buying bottled water. Recently, we bought a filtered water pitcher. It was my husband's idea and I actually didn't believe that it would change the taste of the water, but low and behold, it did. No more bottled water for us. And yes, you are right honey.

-The average vending machine snack costs $1. Buy a pack of cookies every afternoon at work and pay $260 per year.

-Unused memberships -- Costhelper.com reports that the monthly service fee at gyms averages between $35 and $40. At $40 per month, an unused gym membership runs $480 per year.

If you have some helpful pointers that maybe help you out in saving that extra dollar, let us know! Like Victoria loves to tell us - Don't Take Advice From Broke People!

-Jennifer-