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!

Cuttedupgrape (great name) - useful info! I have a myWaitrose card, but thought you had to spend a fiver to get the free coffee, like the newspaper - is that not the case?

I am a coffee snob and I think the quality of the coffee has really gone down since they offered the 'free' one, the newspaper is handy though - but sadly it is still a 20 mile round trip to my nearest Waitrose so I can't go everyday ! I think you have to spend the £5 to get the paper but the coffee is a totally separate transaction -no minimum spend,

I am going to get a my Waitrose card - didn't realise it got you a free coffee,ace.

I should try the white wine!

To Mrs. Wellyboot

Get a washing net (from Lakeland) to put all your socks, tights etc. in - result - none lost!

MrsYoung there's no minimum spend to get the free hot drink with a Waitrose card. You also get 10% their Essentials range which actually costs the same as Tesco/Sainsburys etc. You do have to spend a fiver to get the free paper but I usually get the i anyway which is 20p. The free Waitrose newspaper/magazines are good too.

Thanks! See you there tomorrow!

Just thought of one.

Internet purchases which don't fit or look like I expected, which I then return.

Obviously I prefer to buy only from places with free delivery and free returns, but can't always.

Laughing at 'stupid owl shit'!!!! Brilliant!
I decorated DS's room with owls and since then flipping owls are everywhere!!!

Coffee
Shop bought sandwiches
Expensive mobile phones
Bottled water (tap water was good enough 40 years ago)
Chantenay carrots - chunks of ordinary ones in a dish with a knob of butter, tbs of water, salt and pepper and a tsp of sugar are just as good for a third of the price
Extra lean mince - fry the fat off the basics stuff and it even tastes better
Those little standing orders for Club Penguin, etc, that they stop using
Expensive shampoo and conditioner

Teenagers

Bumpsadaisy innocent smoothies are juice! What's the difference?

Bumpsadaisy innocent smoothies are juice! What's the difference?

There's a difference between pure fruit smoothie and apple juice in cartons from concentrate. The former is better tho still pretty sugary.

Hear hear, MrsBethel.

Craft shite and fabrics, art stuff. I am the most hamfisted, talent less artist/crafter there is, and still, I will persist in these transactions.

along the same lines as a my waitrose card...

if you are close to or ever go to John Lewis, apply for a my john lewis card. It gets you a free hot drink and a once a month. Not a biggie in the grand scheme of things but if you're out shopping anyway, then it's a nice occasional treat and means that you get to save a few pounds that you might otherwise have spent getting a starbucks/etc and sandwich or cake to keep you going!

This is the [[http://www.johnlewis.com/our-services/my-john-lewis page you need to go to on their website] to sign up...

having just come back from doing the weekly shop, I will add "not checking the fridge before you go, so you end buying MORE eggs, yoghurt and OJ when you have unopened ones still"

Thanks Mumsnetters. I was out this morning as non working day - I park at Waitrose anyway and get a few bits and bobs so I signed up for my Waitrose card and enjoyed my free coffee and newspaper . I have seen myself get a coffee from the Cafe Nero one street along, so this will save me a bit of money.

Told DH about it and he may have got the wrong idea about the the thread - he was very sceptical about anything involving Waitrose being an economy !

Thanks zipzap I'm going to sign up for the John Lewis card as well - I generally go there about once a month, so that will make it an even bigger treat.

Hey OP, this definitely struck a chord. 'Admin fees' are my pet hate. How much does it cost to photocopy something

Anyway, we decided to put it among the top thread questions to ask the Hairy Bikers when they visited MNHQ for a web chat!

Also look at the bigger losses too. Plenty of people overpay for insurance they do not need or when they retire they buy a bad annuity and lose tens of thousands. Others have a mortgage at too high an interest rate or don't over pay their home loan which could save them thousands and thousands every year.
Another would be people putting things on credit cards and taking out pay day loans paying thousands in interest over the years.
Biggest waste of money might be women who give up full time work and then lose about 30 years of what could be gradually increasing income which had they carried on they could have been promoted within to £50k a year so losing about £50k x 30 years (£1.5m loss for some women who when they try to return to work find the £50k jobs are not there for them only the minimum wage ones . If you also factor in the fact they are then unwaged and cannot pay into a pension so lose a pension they might draw at £30k a year for another 20 years even bigger losses).

fs2013 - I'm pm-ing you re your Rome trip.

Lunch at work, wine at home. When I do spend money frivolously it's in poundland or ebay so not too bad.

I have cut
Gym membership
Take away
Waitrose/M&S food shops
Holidays
Salon haircut now someone comes to the house
Skin care products helped by now having rosacea
Plus I do change utility providers annually

Yet to get the chop
My car
Wine
Flowers
Treaty food

I am doing a spreadsheet for January where I am entering every last penny and even though I knew my bills to a penny it's been an eye opener to see how other stuff eg reheeling shoes, friends birthday present , DS driving theory test just mounts up !

Waitrose individual pretzel rolls. 82p each
Charity shop bits.
Nice bits & bobs for the kids.
Crafting stuff.
Ready made mash

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes
Bus fares when I could cycle
Lunches

Am working on all three - had got good at cycling earlier last year but Winter weather put me off. Had a bit of a slip up on the clothes front as I can't resist a bargain in the sales but am now back on the wagon and have a pile of stuff to eBay.

I do have gym membership but this is not a waste of money as I go three times a week almost without fail.

Library fines. Always forget to renew my books. I reckon it would be cheaper for me to just buy the books from Amazon. Even the library staff gasped when they saw how big my last fine was! Even more shameful is that I could renew online...if only I remembered to do it!