Saving Money For Your Business: What Are the Biggest Money Wasters?

Are you trying to save some extra cash to start your business so you can quit your job and work for yourself full time? If you are wondering how you can save money for your business, then take a few minutes to make sure you are not participating in one or more of the biggest money wasters mentioned below.

1. Unused Gym Memberships. Many people make their New Year's Resolution a commitment to the gym at least a few times a week to get in shape by the summer. The truth is, most of these people usually commit for only 1-2 months and end up forgetting to cancel the gym membership. As a result, hundreds of dollars end up getting wasted by the end of the year from negligence. For example, lets take planet fitness, one of the cheapest gym memberships you can acquire in the United States. For only $10 a month and sometimes with a waived startup fee, you can work out anytime (24/7 for most locations) with the White Card Membership at the location you signed up at for about $120 a year. But if a person only goes to the gym for the first two months of the year, then $100 gets wasted the rest of the year when forgetting to cancel the membership. The same habit will result in $200 wasted that year for a Black Card holder. However, most gym memberships are about double the price of a Black Card Membership which results in $400 wasted annually by a person who doesn't commit for a full year on a contract based membership. I'd suggest cancelling the membership and avoiding year contract memberships if you are not able to consistently attend the gym for the entire year. This will free up hundreds of dollars in your budget.

2. Expensive Gadgets. There are so many gadgets out there with inflated prices against the actual benefit of the functionality. Fitness watches can be one of the biggest money pits if you are not familiar with the options available. For example, an Apple Watch is priced at around $199 and only compatible with iOS devices. However, Amazon and Ebay sells fitness watches for as low $20 including most of the same functionality and compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Fitness watches are not the only expensive gadgets that most people can live without. Self balancing Hover boards are cool, but do you really need one? Buying expensive gadgets is one of the quickest ways to deplete your funds without gaining value.

3. Parking Tickets. Following instructions and reading can take you far in life. Why risk parking in a prohibited area or at a prohibited time when the consequences are monetary deductions? Most people end up getting parking tickets because they are in a hurry, running late for something and need to grab a quick spot, or just pure laziness. You have to hold yourself accountable for getting a parking ticket when a sign says "handicap only", "no parking", "2 hour parking", "permit required", or any precautionary warning that could result in getting a parking ticket for not following instructions. In many cases, people could avoid tickets by getting a permit, but often see it as something that's to expensive or an expense than can be avoided. However, it only takes one mistake and now you have to pay for a ticket that could cost more than a parking permit would have for an entire year. The best practice when dealing with parking is to be risk adverse. At least have someone in the car that can move it for you quickly if you parked illegally for a few minutes to run a quick errand. But in most cases, being responsible and following instructions can avoid an unnecessary parking fines.

4. Junk Food. All over social media posts you will find people complaining about how a bag of chips has become filled with more air and less chips over the years. This should be an indicator for people to stop buying them, but instead people buy more, two bags instead of one. Junk food sales play a huge part in keeping convenience stores in business. Convenience store owners count on people who fail to meal prep and eat on a disciplined schedule to shop with them for profitability. Junk food manufacturers also count on people who spend money on sodium filled foods with pseudo hunger ceasing ingredients that create nasty side effects like fatigue and laziness. Most junk foods contain addictive chemicals and preservatives that urge consumers to want more and more which ends up getting expensive, especially when hunger strikes. Instead of buying a bag of 15 chips for 99 cents, buy a chicken breast instead or maybe even an actual potato. Not only will these digest better and control hunger urges, they are healthier and less expensive than eating junk foods that will lead to other poor habits.

5. Interest. Interest rate expenses can creep up on your pockets if you forget your payment deadlines or like to open up lines of credit without a payment plan or strategy for avoiding the interest. The most effective way to use a credit card is buy using it in place of cash that you would normally spend. Basically, instead of paying your normal expenses with a debit card or cash, use a credit card instead to build credibility with the bureaus, and pay the card in full before the interest kicks in. The biggest mistake people make is by overspending or maxing out their line of credit, and letting the balance sit on the card, paying the minimum payment while interest compounds. Try to avoid using credit cards on items that you cannot afford to pay with cash unless you absolutely have to in order to position yourself for a process greater that you have already completely thought through and planned.

6. Cars. Every year, car manufactures add bells, whistles, and a new body style to their new lineup of cars. Most of the time, the engine is exactly the same as the previous year and may change every 3-4 years at a time. In some cases, the body style doesn't change much at all, just fresh paint and a futuristic edge is added like a new headlight, grill shape, or something relatively small. However, car advertisers have mastered the way the human psyche reacts to something new and continue to capitalize on consumers who feel the need to have the latest and greatest. Sometimes, people buy new cars just to show off what they've worked hard enough for to be able to afford. You rarely hear someone say, "I bought this new car because I needed to get from point A to B", but instead they share pictures of a car on social media that has put them in debt and currently making payments on with interest. Most of the time, the reality of the situation is that the down payment spent on the new car would have been enough to buy a car that would get a person from A to B without creating debt. In fact, most people don't see having a car payment with interest as money wasted if they can afford to make payments on time and still have money left from paychecks after bills are paid. Nonetheless, money is being wasted and maintenance is generally not calculate since many people assume new cars shouldn't have any issues which is not true. If you need to rely on warranties to cover repairs and maintenance without going broke, then this should prevent you from buy a car that is too expensive for you to cash out on and still have capital to live and sustain from. I'm not saying by any means that you shouldn't get a car loan if you need one, but if a $5,000 car can get you from A to B, then its wasteful to put yourself an extra 20k in debt just to boost self esteem.

What are some other money wasters that are not mentioned above? Feel free to comment and subscribe for updates when more content is released.

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