What do you waste money on?

[Rollerskaterabbit]

This year I'm trying to identify what I waste money on and try and stop it!

For me the biggest wasters are shop bought coffees and pre packaged foods!

Sundries.

Go into the local Tesco for Milk and bread, come out having spent £15 on 'offers' amd bogofs :(

I waste quite a lot of money on completely unnecessary crap.

eg hosting the Olympics, bribing voting groups (giving free bus passes and winter fuel payments to pensioners with incomes twice mine), paying for stupid rail projects that will cost more than the benefits and will probably cost £200 a ticket in the end anyway, subsidising various peoples' leisure activities, paying for Euro MPs to nosh at the trough, paying civil servants way over the odds to form working committees to contemplate actually doing anything useful, etc, etc, et-fucking-cetera. . .

Of the bit of my money I get to choose how to spend, I'm actually pretty thrifty and extract fantastic value and get a lot of joy for very little outlay. I guess when you're spending "other people's money" you don't tend to give as much of a shit.

I take forever reading product labels on cans and bottles to make sure I am getting the highest concentration of ingredients and best value for pack size and then I spend £30 buying magazines and nail varnish.
I also buy shed loads of accessories because I am always trying to go down a dress size and don't want to commit to Larger size clothing. Accessories are more forgiving!

To the lady with lost socks - buy a stack all the same colour - works for us.

My wastes aren't every day, but ones that gradually build if I don't keep an eye on myself - like some other posters, forgetting or not being arsed to make lunch and then buying something not as good AND more expensive instead, or getting up too late and so having to drive to work instead of cycling.

We're trying to cut down on takeaways this year for both health and cash reasons, we normally have one a week, but we've accidentally ended up having two already this month so I think we need to try harder!

I read on here once that writing down all your spending for a month helps you see what you're actually doing - I think that would probably help me but i would buy a notebook first if I ever got around to it...

Just to say, having read the first few posts, charity shop clothes/books etc are NEVER a waste of money. They are a donation to charity with a free gift attached!

Think of it like that, and, if like me your charity shop habit costs about the same as a Starbucks coffee ( or coffee and cake on a bad day lol) then giving a fiver to oxfam once a week/ fortnight really isn't busting the bank....

Get a reusable coffee cup and drink Starbucks drip coffee in future - 25p off for bringing your own cup and free refil still I believe!

I no longer buy expensive facecreams/magazines. After work, I used to wander into the shopping centre and invariably end up buying something nice but totally unnecessary.

Since having kids, I have spent far too much money on their clothes (always sale price but it all adds up). The only thing to do is to step away from online shopping and keep away from the shops!!

I am also a bargain basher.....and love a good bargain BUT you can end wasting a load of money on things bought in the sale or just because there was 50% off.

Am also very guilty at reading recommendations on mumsnet and then buying it eg Clarisonic, supplements, books, juicer whatever.

The biggest waste for us was having a large sum of money (from house sale) sitting in current account for ages....and getting no interest at all. DH kept saying he would move it into savings acc and never did. We have both been rubbish like that. I also use same insurance year in year out rather than shopping around so am aiming to be more financially savvy this year to avoid that kind of waste.

I definitely waste my money on my children. Both girls have expensive hobbies that cost over £300 a month, and then there are all the little extras that go with it...

My second main expense is my disorganisation, because I haven't got my snacks done, so I end up buying sandwiches at the shop after school etc.

Lol Mrs Bethel. Amazing too how the regular people must tighten their belts and yet the powerful and privileged rake in more and more!

Match attax for the kids

I have started having miso soup at Starbucks - 120 kcal &'about £1.50
Unfortunately I love their crayfish & avocado salad which is £4 something

I guess the miso soup is an improvement on the crayfish salad at £1.50.
But you could buy yourself a tub/pouch of miso from an oriental supermarket and have miso soup for pennies - I might have some tomorrow for lunch at home (good idea!)

• Mind you that crayfish and avocado salad is nice too - had one last summer and ate it in Regent's Park

Benefit skin stuff when W7 off Amazon is as good and costs pennies.

When I look back now at the money I frittered away when I worked F/T in the city I could weep ... coffees, lunches, magazines, expensive gifts for the children, expensive clothes for work, manicures weekly .... The only thing I don't regret is my gym membership and twice weekly PT sessions.

Now my only unnecessary spending is the occasional in-app purchase on my ipad

unplanned meals, drinks out after work with DH, posh restaurants that serve food food no better than normal restaurants. Kindle books but I love them and read them all!

I work in a city centre and it is sooo hard not to spend money.

Am terrible for buying the DCs clothes they don't need because they have 70% off in H&M, or Gap. Then 'nipping' into M&S with the intention of just getting a salad and coming out with percy pigs, walnut whips etc.

I'm not too bad with magazines as usually use my clubcard points to get myself a subcription.

I am going to try and have a no spend month in February and see how I get on. That will mean no internet shopping - not sure my addiction will cope!

Pepsi Max
Kindle books.. but I don't see it as a waste really.
Nails
Eating out
Stupid Owl shit. If I see anything with an Owl on I buy it

I'm always saving up for a holiday. I don't drive and I go abroad as often as possible. I can't really afford it and use things like euroline buses and stay in cheap places. I'm always looking for deals and always book everything individually myself. I always wanted to be an explorer! I'm always skint. When I can't go abroad I book trips in the UK.
this year I am going to- Marrakech, Florida (competition win), costa brava and Rome. Oh and Devon in the UK. I just got back from Amsterdam.

Holidays are never a waste of money. Think of everything you are gaining!

theonly - have you tried using unroll.me? it stops you getting all the emails re the offers so you spend less on t'internet

Lipstick. I am a terror for ordering "special offer" ones from Avon. This week the delivery arrives, I look at the name of the colour I chose and realise it is not going to suit me! Use it once and it's straight in the pile in the bathroom cabinet with the others I can't bear to throw!

I have completely overbooked on holidays this year - that's our biggest waste of money oh that and DH's unnecessary sports car.

We have been cutting down on things since the start of the year. We have insulated coffee mugs so bring in coffee in those rather than buying - unfortunately on the days I walk to work after dropping DS at school to save on parking it's not possible to bring it so I have to buy a coffee those days.

I have been good about bringing in lunch - on the one day I get an official lunch break I go to Subway where they do an amazing salad and drink combo for £3.00 which I don't think is too bad.

Have been trying to use up all our freezer and cupboard food - thank goodness it is DH's birthday today because if I have to eat salmon or chicken one more time this week I will scream.

Oh and must stop getting books from the library - never bring them back on time and always end up paying fees.

Ditto on the Avon stuff - buy it because I like my neighbour who sells it, but I don't need it and end up with poor colours because you don't see them properly beforehand.

here's an idea for those who fritter away money on costa, etc.: get a MyWaitrose card. they give you one coffee a day for free, and it's bloomin lovely too! you don't have to buy anything either. i walk past one waitrose most days and just quickly pop in to get a cappuccino, voila!

Horses. Ridiculously expensive and I spend all my spare time mucking them out. This year I plan to turn the little darlings out as soon as it stops raining and the ground dries out. Hopefully they can eat grass for the summer and save me a fortune

I've had a think and I'm not sure we waste much at all really.
I do have a house full of random kitchen ingredients so I can throw together Thai/Mexican/Japanese etc at the drop of a hat but I do cook all the time and use them so although it costs a lot, we do use it.
We eat lunch out once or twice a week too. But food is our luxury. I can't really drink, we don't go to pubs or clubs, rarely buy clothes...
We do go on one awesome holiday a year but that's practically medicinal as I lose Vitamin D like it's going out of fashion on my medication. In fact, the doctor said it was the best thing I could do for myself so that's not a waste either.
I do spend far too much in TKMaxx on all sorts of random tat though.....

Top thread - this should be in classics - thanks OP! like others I have wasted so much in the past.
Now I take tap water with me to drink, don't buy coffees or sandwiches out, buy clothes in ASDA ( and always get compliments about my business attire ). Realise I wasted thousands (and lots of time, too)on getting my frizzy hair blow dried straight. Now by just leaving lots of conditioner in it I get a much better look at a tiny fraction of the cost...
MUA cosmetics from Superdrug are fab (S&B on here suggestion).
Still waste lots of money on Amazon tho'.