Little money grubbers
Here are some ways that people spend money unnecessarily. You can save money little by little if you watch the tiny money grubbers. You might think, a dollar here, or a dollar there, won’t matter. The truth is that a lot of little things really add up.
To illustrate, here is a typical example of allowing little money grubbers waste your money…
Photo by taylorkoa22
Jo-Ann has a full time job, and she loves to use the vending machine. Everyday on her short break, she spends $.75 on a can of soda and $.65 on her favorite snack (that’s $308 per year).
Jo-Ann also has some credit card debt. She always pays more than the minimum, but decides to put her extra money into an interest bearing account instead of paying down the debt. Although her savings will return some money, $50 per month, the interest fees on her cards add up to about $80 per month. (She will still lose $30 per month, $360 per year.)
Jo-Ann doesn’t like to use the internet too much because she is afraid of identity theft. She pays postage for all of her bills (even though she could pay them online). She has to mail six envelopes per month with a stamp. That adds up to $38.28 per year.
Jo-Ann could save more than $700 per year if she pays her bills online, brings a snack from home, and pays down her credit card bills. In five years, she would save $3,500!
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About the stamps: some bills don’t let you pay online (or are too obtrusive, like PG&E)
I save up all of my pennies and use them to buy stamps at the Post Office! I get stamps, and get rid of my pennies!
Great advice! And all the items you mentioned take no more work–or even less work–than paying through the nose for “convenience!” I don’t purchase anything in single-serving size, have never paid a bank fee, and I can’t remember the last time I wrote a check! As the saying goes, Mind the Pennies and the Dollars will Take Care of Themselves
She could also take that high interest rate card and trade it in on a no interest offer, switching her balance and saving that credit card interest.