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A Slow, Steady Drip

flushI’ve recently seen a television commercial that shows people throwing away food as soon as they’ve purchased it, rationalizing that they’re just going to throw it away later, so they might as well take care of that now. The commercial then goes on to state that we throw away around $500.00 of food every year because of spoilage. That really rang true for me—I clean out my fridge weekly, and tend to find all kinds of little things in there that shouldn’t be consumed by human mouths. I would estimate that yes, I do throw away about that much food.

As I watched this commercial, I started to think. If we waste $500.00 a year on food, what are other ways in which we fritter away our money? It may only boil down to a couple of cents here and there, but by the end of the year, when you add it all up, isn’t that money we’d rather have in our pockets?

1. Gas – how often do we start our cars and then sit there for a minute while we dig through our purses or wallets for something instead of driving off? If we’re in a long line at the bank or other drive-through establishment, do we sit there idling, or do we shut off the engine? Of course, if it’s a short wait, it can take more gas to re-start the engine than it would to idle, but we can judge that in each circumstance.

2. Soap – I was talking with a dishwasher salesman last year, and he mentioned that using too much soap is actually bad for machines—dishwashers, washing machines, etc. As we use these machines but also as we use shampoo and other forms of soap, if we’re careful to use just what is needed to get the job done, we can save some money on soap that way.

3. Bank Fees – are you getting dinged with bank fees? I hate getting that little envelope in the mail telling me that I’m overdrawn and I’ve been charged for it. It’s not that I don’t have the money; I just need to move it from a different account. If I were to stay a little more on top of things and watch the status of each account, I could save myself those fees. Also, avoid using ATM machines that charge fees per use, and see if you can get a savings account with a better percentage rate than you’re currently using.

We can talk about how to grow money all we want, but if we’re not careful in how we use that money, all our careful investing won’t matter.

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