Latest news with #budgeting
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
"It's A Scam": Frugal People Are Calling Out The So-Called Money Saving Habits That Secretly Drain Your Bank Account
1. Trying to save money in 2025 sometimes feels like trying to run up the down escalator: you're trying as hard as you can, but you're stuck in the same place. However, some of your so-called money-saving habits could be making the struggle worse than it needs to be. Recently, people on Reddit called out the things that people think are big money savers that drain their funds instead, and I miiiight be guilty of a few. Here's what they had to say: 2."Driving across town to save three cents a gallon on gas." —will_write_for_tacos "My dad left a gas station to drive across town to get three cents off. The second station had raised prices, so he drove back. The original station had raised prices in the 1.5 hours it had taken to drive across town and back. So two cross-town trips to pay 15 cents extra." —Aguy_incognito 3."If you're an arts and crafts person, seeing something you want and thinking, 'I can just make it myself and it'll cost me a lot less.' That is the devil whispering sweet lies directly into the tender ear of your hubris. If you don't already have nearly all of the necessary supplies on hand, it will cost you more to make it yourself." —kardiasteria "I sew, and today I saw something on Instagram and was like 'why buy it for $100 when I can spend $2000 to make it myself' 😵💫. Too real, lol. If nothing else, seeing the price of fabric made me appreciate why clothes that aren't made in a sweatshop are more expensive." —Shot_Satisfaction727 4."Avoiding doing maintenance on things. Sure, it's cheaper today, and it'll probably all be fine tomorrow, but sooner or later it's gonna bite ya." —New_Line4049 "Schedule your maintenance or it will be scheduled for you." —scarfknitter 5."Renting a storage unit." —El_Grande_Americano "Over the course of 20ish years, my wife spent $13,000 to store $200 worth of stuff that she threw away when she decided to stop renting the unit." —ClownfishSoup 6."Buying stuff just because it's on sale. Were you going to buy it at full price? No? Then it's not savings, it's an expenditure." —zeptillian "I worked with someone like this. He would go buy shit that was on sale because he might need it in the future. Like a bunch of tools and shit. He would frequent estate sales and pawn shops, too. Buy piles of junk and then claim at the end of it how much money he saved. I'm like, no, you actually spent $500 instead of saving $250." —Samsquanchiz 7."My in-laws would drive all over town chasing grocery sales. Milk is cheaper here, chicken is on sale here, bread is buy one get one at this store, etc. Even if you don't make additional impulse buys at each store, who the fuck wants to waste that much time, energy, gas and mental bandwidth on groceries? It was like a weird obsession and was exhausting just hearing about. Like… pick a fucking store and be done with it. Change it weekly if you want to. But for fucks sake, going to five different stores to meal plan is bonkers." —BabyNOwhatIsYouDoin "I am guilty of this myself, but I guess it depends on how dense an area you live in. The three grocery stores I regularly go to are all within a half-mile radius of my apartment, and I just walk to them. There are another two that are only a mile away that I make it out to sometimes, too. Doesn't really take me more than an hour to go to two of them, and it's a pleasant morning stroll on the weekends." —the_sexy_muffin 8."Buying the cheaper and smaller packages of food at the grocery store. The price for the amount of food is often a lot higher. It's better to buy the larger-sized ones, and then maybe freeze some of it." —Confidentium "I've noticed companies sneaking the price per unit up on the larger sizes recently. You can't always rely on this anymore. Always check the price per unit." —Whiteums "Except if you're only buying what you can reasonably use before expiration. My spouse bought a large bottle of barbecue sauce when we use it maybe once a year. Now we've wasted fridge space, and more is going in the trash. Yellow mustard is something I like to have for when I want it, but I only really need a small jar. So it can be better to buy a smaller size, especially if space is at a premium." —GlassBandicoot 9."The 'buy one get one half off or with discount' type of deals. Anything that incentivizes you to buy more by tacking it on as a bonus if you get it. If you're buying in bulk or such intentionally, then it's a good deal. But if you just came in for one box of let's say cookies for $5, and it had one of these deals. So you buy a second box too because it's discounted and says if you buy two, it will cost $8, as opposed to $10. So you get it thinking you're saving money." "Instead, you just spent $3 more than you had to on a second box you didn't even come in for. And it repeats throughout the whole store. It's everywhere, especially in food. The flashy colored tickets, the bold letters, emphasis on how much you save, all to bait people to buy more things than they actually need. Though it depends on what your actual goals and needs are. It might genuinely save you some and be good, but you could also be getting ripped off." —Rubysage3 10."Meal kits like Hello Fresh. They cost as much as your grocery bill, but you only get dinner, and you still have to go to the grocery store to get other things." —CulturalAtmosphere85 "We only use them when they give us 50% off and for the convenience. Sure, it's just dinner covered, but you're paying for not having to think about it." —Traceofbass 11."Fast food. Yeah, it's fast and it's food, but at what cost?" —tushadume "Same as a regular fuckin sit down restaurant these days, by my experience." —Lady_Irish 12."The dollar store. You're paying way more per item, but I understand their utility is to help get by when you can't afford a full item or to buy in bulk. If you're not paycheck to paycheck, though, it doesn't make sense to shop there." —Hour-Newt-8391 "I go for things that are the same quality: Bobby pins, hair ties, brooms, sponges... These things all measure up functionally and are way cheaper than, say, Walmart." —hijinxxx_ 13."Took me a while to realize that using the dishwasher saves me more money than washing dishes by hand." —NumberCapital7000 "Dishwashers are very efficient. They use far, far less water, and since you use less water, you need less energy to heat up the water needed." —MrLeureduthe 14."Carrying a balance on a credit card to build credit. You don't need to carry a balance to build credit." —semi-anon-in-Oly "Many years ago, I got my first credit card. I used to pay it off religiously. I'll never forget having a conversation on the deck with my father when he told me the only way to build credit is to carry a balance. It sent me down a dangerous spiral and was some of the worst financial and life advice I ever received. I have been chasing that 'advice' and burden half of my adult life. I paid off one of my cards yesterday, and it has never felt better." —SisterCity212 15."Buying really cheap stuff. I'm not saying you have to buy top of the line, but at least get something semi-quality so you don't have to constantly replace it." —SillySub2001 "You can only afford the cheap stuff, then it breaks, and you can only afford to replace it with more cheap stuff. It's a vicious cycle that not many people can break out of." —TheNerdFromThatPlace 16."Buy now, pay later for anything that isn't an appreciating asset or generating cash flow. Like a burrito, refrigerator, phone, wedding, etc. I interned at a BNPL firm, and I'm telling you all from firsthand experience, it's a scam." —Double-Discount9217 "This just isn't true either. You are always screwing yourself. BNPL companies make money in two ways. One: off interest payments on missed payments. Some people will convince themselves they are smart shoppers that won't fall for that, and pay it off in time, so free convenience. The second is that the retailer pays on average a 6% margin on the sale to the BNPL company. Why would the retailer do that? Why would they offer it as an option and pay this company if it literally costs them profit? Because time and time again it has been demonstrated that those 'smart shoppers' buy way more shit they don't need when the checkout number is smaller because of the pay later option. If you have a buy now, pay later account with any service, they have almost assuredly gotten you to overspend." —dalmathus finally, "Voting for Trump." —ThePepperPopper Is there anything you would add to the list? Tell us about it in the comments or via the anonymous form below:
Globe and Mail
14 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
For travel-loving Canadians, other financial goals take a back seat to vacation spending
Driving through rolling savannah plains in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve on her honeymoon, Liza Akhvledziani Carew saw elephants, lions and giraffes. She was reminded of the sheer vastness of the world and felt her 'own little life' put into context. For Ms. Akhvledziani Carew, the chief executive officer of a startup that helps Canadians earn more credit card points, travel is a non-negotiable budget item. 'It's a big part of our lifestyle. That's probably what I would spend most of my money on,' she said, adding that the couple pays for part of their travel with a 'sophisticated [credit card reward] points strategy.' The cost of travelling has soared in recent years, driven by the postpandemic travel boom, inflation and new taxes imposed by destinations affected by overtourism. But for many Canadians, travel remains a high-priority spending area, regardless of rising costs. And it's clashing with other financial goals. On board a Ritz-Carlton yacht, I learned how the other half cruises Kathleen Daunt, a financial adviser with the New School of Finance in Toronto, works with clients who are saving for a major financial milestone, most commonly to buy a home. When she sits down with her clients and calculates the amount they'd need to save each month to reach that goal – which usually means not spending on travel – they balk at the trade-off. 'People expect to have all the items on their list of priorities. If anything, it means you have to understand your priorities and have flexibility,' she said. She also said roughly two in five new clients will cite annual travel as one of their top financial goals. Ms. Daunt said she sees the desire for travel as a mix of social media-induced fear of missing out, widespread burnout and a societal view of vacations as a right – all of which can make it easier to justify overspending. 'You have that same old expectation [of being able to take vacations] but everything just feels more pricey,' she said. 'It's so much money for a family of four or more to do an on-a-plane vacation.' Canadians' overseas trips were up 32 per cent in the July-to-September period last year from the same period a year earlier, and up 6.5 per cent from 2019, according to Statistics Canada's most recent national travel survey. The amount they spent abroad also jumped, rising 20 per cent in 2024 from a year earlier and nearly 40 per cent from 2019. Tourism operators anticipate a strong summer as more Canadians avoid U.S. travel Even the trade war with the United States and growing possibility of a recession have not dimmed Canadians' vacation ambitions. While travel south of the border by plane and car is down, Transat A.T. Inc. chief executive officer Annick Guerard said on a conference call with analysts in March that Canadians' spending on transatlantic flights has not been affected. According to estimates by Barry Choi, a personal finance and travel expert at and regular Globe and Mail contributor, a two-week European vacation costs about US$5,050 ($7,000), though he noted the estimate was for a solo traveller, so couples or families should expect to pay notably more. Timing can significantly affect costs, with June to August the most expensive months. In contrast, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Canadians' average monthly mortgage payment at the end of 2024 was $2,042 (and much higher in Toronto, at $3,006, and Vancouver, at $3,053). Rachel Dodds, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management who studies overtourism and consumer motivations for travel, said social media plays a huge role in stoking travel interest. According to data from TikTok, as of mid-2024 the app had seen a 410-per-cent increase in travel content views since 2021. 'Everyone has a phone, everyone consumes [travel content] – if you see a reel on Instagram you're like, 'Oh, I wanna go there,'' Prof. Dodds said. That goes both ways: While on vacation, people are much more likely to post photos for the 'instant gratification' of likes and comments. 'There's an emotional and sharing aspect of it that didn't exist before 15 years ago.' Relative to previous decades, travelling is now more affordable and is seen as a right rather than a privilege in Western countries, Prof. Dodds said. And that increase in affordability has come at a time when many people, particularly millennials and Gen Zers, have more disposable income but feel other large financial goals are out of reach. Why Seoul is the perfect city for a girls' getaway 'Travel has become a substitute for those kinds of things,' she said. Prof. Dodds said we are an increasingly lonely society, and many people are travelling to connect with others to have meaningful, authentic experiences of other cultures. That's given rise to sustainable travel, and nature-based trips and community experiences, rather than the traditional resort-based vacations. While Ms. Daunt said none of her clients have ultimately chosen travelling over other financial goals, some have opted to delay major purchases. She said she usually sees people negotiating within their new budgets to downgrade from a trip every year to once every two or three years, or from pricier international trips to smaller ones close to home. 'It's hard, because we have the push from feeling burnt out and I would argue expecting vacations. We live in a country where we feel like, 'I deserve to be able to have vacations,' and there's this other push on the home-buying side where there's so much FOMO when it comes to home purchasing despite a bonkers overpriced market,' she said. 'We're still putting those expectations on ourselves.' A strategy of making small regular contributions to a dedicated travel savings account can be an effective way to save for vacations without compromising other travel goals, she said. For Ms. Akhvledziani Carew's part, when she and her husband bought their home a few years ago after years of rigorous monthly savings goals that mimicked what they expected to spend on mortgage payments. They also tapped their investments, and her husband sold a condo he previously owned. She said they did slightly less-elaborate trips, but their points strategy meant they didn't have to cut back much. 'It was a different position we were starting from,' she acknowledged, but added later 'you build your lifestyle around the thing that's most important to you.'
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Ways To Use AI To Earn and Save an Extra $100,000 for Retirement
Artificial intelligence services keep getting smarter — and more flexible in taking over tasks for you. Learn More: Find Out: But can you entrust AI with your financial future? With your retirement nest egg? While AI can't do everything for you, it can certainly help. Try these ways to use AI to save an extra $100,000 for retirement. Budgeting comes in two parts: planning how to spend and then actually doing that day in and day out. Artificial intelligence can help you with both. You can ask an AI bot to think like a financial planner and create a budget tailored to your needs, goals, and priorities. Even better, you can then feed your past spending behavior into the bot to ask it to compare your actual spending to your ideal budget, to find where you're going astray. 'With AI tools making expense tracking less tedious and more efficient, consumers can better manage their finances, keep up with their expenses, and seal the leaks that drain their financial resources,' explains Aaron Razon, budgeting expert with CouponSnake. Want to advance your career and earn more? Learn how to competently use AI. At the simplest level it will make you a more qualified hire, as many roles will increasingly require workers to leverage AI. It can also boost your productivity, allowing you to get more done in less time. The uses don't end there however. Ask AI to help you brainstorm job and career ideas that you didn't know existed, but which fit your strengths and goals. Then ask it what steps you must take to make the career transition for the ones that jump out at you. Dustin W. Scout runs AI platform Magai and offers a simple example of a user running a side hustle with nothing but AI support. 'He creates bespoke AI art for corporate clients based on their interior design needs, personality, or interests. Once the client has settled on a piece, he enlarges the AI image to a printable resolution and has it printed on canvas and shipped to the client.' Or take Enes Karaboga, who created media site as a side hustle. 'A single content site can earn more than $100,000 in a few years with Google Ads and affiliate links. In the past, you needed a team to run such a business. I have my own army of AI writers, editors, designers and more. Each AI agent works for pennies. All you need to do is orchestrate the workflow, set the direction and make the key decisions.' Earn enough money with that AI-powered side hustle, and you can quit your day job. From there, you could work full-time on growing your business. Or you could automate much of the work with AI, and hire a human manager to oversee the rest of it. Then you can retire if you like — regardless of your age. Justin Ramos, CEO of AI-powered Compai, recently went through this exercise himself. 'I was deciding between Wealthfront's S&P 500 Direct Investing and their Direct Index Investing offerings, and I asked Claude to analyze the long-term implications of both options, focusing on diversification and tax advantages. 'While the S&P 500 option had lower fees (0.09% vs 0.25%), Claude's analysis showed that Direct Index Investing's ability to harvest tax losses from individual stocks could generate an additional 1-2% in annual tax savings. It demonstrated that on a $100,000 initial investment growing at 8% annually for 20 years, the standard S&P 500 approach would yield approximately $466,000. Alternatively, the Direct Index approach would yield about $581,000, leaving me with $115,000 in additional retirement savings.' Ultimately, you're responsible for your own financial decisions. But AI can help you make more informed decisions — and perhaps retire with an extra $100,000 or more in your nest egg. More From GOBankingRates Surprising Items People Are Stocking Up On Before Tariff Pains Hit: Is It Smart? 5 Types of Cars Retirees Should Stay Away From Buying This article originally appeared on 5 Ways To Use AI To Earn and Save an Extra $100,000 for Retirement
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Ways To Use AI To Earn and Save an Extra $100,000 for Retirement
Artificial intelligence services keep getting smarter — and more flexible in taking over tasks for you. Learn More: Find Out: But can you entrust AI with your financial future? With your retirement nest egg? While AI can't do everything for you, it can certainly help. Try these ways to use AI to save an extra $100,000 for retirement. Budgeting comes in two parts: planning how to spend and then actually doing that day in and day out. Artificial intelligence can help you with both. You can ask an AI bot to think like a financial planner and create a budget tailored to your needs, goals, and priorities. Even better, you can then feed your past spending behavior into the bot to ask it to compare your actual spending to your ideal budget, to find where you're going astray. 'With AI tools making expense tracking less tedious and more efficient, consumers can better manage their finances, keep up with their expenses, and seal the leaks that drain their financial resources,' explains Aaron Razon, budgeting expert with CouponSnake. Want to advance your career and earn more? Learn how to competently use AI. At the simplest level it will make you a more qualified hire, as many roles will increasingly require workers to leverage AI. It can also boost your productivity, allowing you to get more done in less time. The uses don't end there however. Ask AI to help you brainstorm job and career ideas that you didn't know existed, but which fit your strengths and goals. Then ask it what steps you must take to make the career transition for the ones that jump out at you. Dustin W. Scout runs AI platform Magai and offers a simple example of a user running a side hustle with nothing but AI support. 'He creates bespoke AI art for corporate clients based on their interior design needs, personality, or interests. Once the client has settled on a piece, he enlarges the AI image to a printable resolution and has it printed on canvas and shipped to the client.' Or take Enes Karaboga, who created media site as a side hustle. 'A single content site can earn more than $100,000 in a few years with Google Ads and affiliate links. In the past, you needed a team to run such a business. I have my own army of AI writers, editors, designers and more. Each AI agent works for pennies. All you need to do is orchestrate the workflow, set the direction and make the key decisions.' Earn enough money with that AI-powered side hustle, and you can quit your day job. From there, you could work full-time on growing your business. Or you could automate much of the work with AI, and hire a human manager to oversee the rest of it. Then you can retire if you like — regardless of your age. Justin Ramos, CEO of AI-powered Compai, recently went through this exercise himself. 'I was deciding between Wealthfront's S&P 500 Direct Investing and their Direct Index Investing offerings, and I asked Claude to analyze the long-term implications of both options, focusing on diversification and tax advantages. 'While the S&P 500 option had lower fees (0.09% vs 0.25%), Claude's analysis showed that Direct Index Investing's ability to harvest tax losses from individual stocks could generate an additional 1-2% in annual tax savings. It demonstrated that on a $100,000 initial investment growing at 8% annually for 20 years, the standard S&P 500 approach would yield approximately $466,000. Alternatively, the Direct Index approach would yield about $581,000, leaving me with $115,000 in additional retirement savings.' Ultimately, you're responsible for your own financial decisions. But AI can help you make more informed decisions — and perhaps retire with an extra $100,000 or more in your nest egg. More From GOBankingRates Surprising Items People Are Stocking Up On Before Tariff Pains Hit: Is It Smart? The 10 Most Reliable SUVs of 2025 This article originally appeared on 5 Ways To Use AI To Earn and Save an Extra $100,000 for Retirement
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Virginia woman asks Dave Ramsey for help with daughter, 18, who's never had ‘a single boundary' around money
Heather, who lives in Fairfax, Virginia, called into The Ramsey Show and asked co-hosts Dave Ramsey and Dr. John Delony if there's any hope to get an 18-year-old to budget when she's always had easy access to and been surrounded by wealth. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) She said her daughter was homeschooled and taught good values about money, but then went to a high school where 'people will drive a different car to school every day just to show off their wealth.' Heather says she has little control over her daughter's spending habits since her husband insists on paying for everything, including college. Heather's in-laws will also give her daughter money whenever she asks. 'You don't have a daughter problem — you have a husband problem,' said Ramsey. He also said that no one with common sense would want to marry "princess girl" who has "never known a single boundary." Heather's daughter is acting like a typical 18-year-old, said Delony, and he 'wouldn't begrudge her a second' because the way she's acting is 'developmentally appropriate.' That's where parenting is supposed to come in. Heather, who says she grew up poor, has been asking her husband to limit the amount of money they give their daughter — or, at least put it into an account they have access to so they can see how she's spending it and discuss it with her. But he says it's their daughter's decision on how she spends that money and she needs to learn from her own mistakes. Only it's their money, not their daughter's money. Delony says a never-ending checking account for an 18-year-old is a 'recipe for a disaster.' He said, "Prep yourself. Be prepared to wake up at 2 a.m. with a phone call from a Dean of Students of some college, cause it's coming." Since 'your husband doesn't care what you think,' he says Heather should start carving out some mom-and-daughter time each week. He suggests a regular breakfast date outside of the home until she graduates and leaves for college. He thinks Heather should open up with her daughter about what life was like for her when she was 18 years old. These weekly chats are 'planting seeds' so when Heather's daughter is having trouble she'll remember that she can trust her mom. Ramsey says the answer lies in being proactive. Heather needs to insert herself into her daughter's life and into her marriage in a proactive way — rather than standing on the sidelines watching a car wreck about to happen. 'If I'm you, I'm in a marriage counselor's office real soon because your husband is a twerp and what he's doing to you is unconscionable,' said Ramsey. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it Only 28 states require high school students to take a personal finance course to graduate. That means parents may be a child's only source of financial education, learning the basics of earning, borrowing, lending and investing. A Quicken survey of 2,000 adults in the U.S. found a 'clear correlation' between early education in money and financial success as adults. Those who learned about money in their formative years were three times as likely (45% vs 14%) to have an annual income of $75K or higher than those who didn't. The survey suggests that teaching your kids healthy financial habits isn't a 'one-time conversation.' Rather, 'parents who talk with their kids once a week about the issue are significantly more likely to have kids who say they are smart about money.' Ramsey Solutions recommends that instead of giving kids an allowance, give them a commission for work done instead. 'When they do their chores, they'll earn a commission,' says the website. 'And when they don't, they'll realize they've made what they earned — nothing.' If they're old enough for a job, they'll also quickly learn that lesson. If your teen wants to make a larger purchase, like a laptop or used car, consider loaning them money and 'charging nominal interest so they get used to the concept,' says Daniel Hunt at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. 'This can be as simple as lowering their ongoing allowance by a small amount until any advance has been repaid, with the amount of the decrease not counted against the amount owed,' he said in a blog post. 'Such an approach mimics a 'minimum payment' option on revolving debt.' Most importantly, they should 'understand that their debt is their responsibility and that there are serious consequences if they don't keep it under control,' he said. Teaching teens about money management also means modeling the behavior you want them to learn — after all, kids learn by example. 'If you buy everything you want for yourself with no limits on spending, then your kids will see that as normal behavior and do the same,' according to John Boitnott at But if you show your kids how and why you save money, 'then your kids may be more inclined to be financially responsible in the future.' This can be a challenge if both parents aren't on the same page, like in Heather's case. When it comes to teaching kids about money management and financial responsibility, parents should be in alignment on how they model financial boundaries — including the consequences of spending more than they earn. As Ramsey tells Heather, her husband won't 'participate with you in parenting,' so that may require marital counseling along with maintaining an open dialogue with her daughter. And, at least according to Ramsey, there may be no hope for their daughter until their 'marriage crisis' is addressed. Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now This is how American car dealers use the '4-square method' to make big profits off you — and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Sign in to access your portfolio
