18-05-2025
5 Things You Overspend a Little On That Add Up Quickly
When you're trying to save money, focus first on cutting the biggest expenses from your budget. This is common sense. But it can be easy to overlook smaller purchases that can add up to big expenses. You hardly notice when it's just a few dollars here and there, but over time, that can turn into a lot of money — and, often, faster than you think.
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Here are five places where many people overspend little by little, often without even realizing it.
It's so easy to add one more item to your cart. It can happen when you're shopping online or in a store. It's usually something small and inexpensive, which makes it seem trivial and easy to excuse. But when it happens repeatedly, these small extras can quietly eat away at your monthly budget and sabotage your savings.
Brick-and-mortar stores know to place these low-cost items right by the checkout to get you to spend just a little more at the last minute. And it can be even harder to resist when you're shopping online. You're being hit with targeted ads, and that impulse buy is just a click away. To resist, make a shopping list before heading to the store and stick to it.
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Brand loyalty can be expensive. In fact, according to Salsify, 87% of customers will pay more money to purchase an item from a brand they trust. That extra cost might not matter on a single item, but over a year of grocery runs and household shopping, it can total up to hundreds of unnecessary dollars.
Many generic and store-brand products are made in the same facilities or use nearly identical ingredients. Name-brand medications contain the identical active ingredients that generics do but can cost 79% more, per Tebra.
Try switching to some alternatives. You don't have to go all-or-nothing. Buy the generic versions one by one and test which ones you like.
Convenience comes at a cost — and that cost builds up fast. This can be one of the biggest drains on your budget, and maybe one of the hardest to resist. Eating out is already more expensive than cooking at home. But delivery apps can also add a hefty fee. And often, the restaurant charges more for their delivery menu to cover the extra costs on their end.
Plan your meals ahead of time each week, and then make shopping lists based on your meal plan. You can also cook larger batches so you have leftovers ready to go. When you have your next meal already waiting in your fridge, it's even more convenient than delivery.
Mobile games and video games often rely heavily on 'microtransactions' to get extra money out of you. You might pay to remove ads, advance faster in the game or get cosmetic changes to your character.
A few dollars here and there on game currency or cosmetic upgrades doesn't feel like much — until you realize how often you're doing it. Many games use psychological tactics like limited-time offers to encourage impulse spending, while virtual currencies disguise real costs, so that $0.99 for '100 gems' feels less like actual money. Some games keep adding new content or limited-time offers.
Microtransactions are designed to be painless. That makes it easy to spend a little here and there without thinking about it too hard. But over time, those small charges add up. Try tracking these expenses for a month. You might be shocked to discover just how much you're spending each year on virtual items with no resale value.
Retailers push extended warranties aggressively because they're extremely profitable — for them, not for you. They seem like a smart safety net. But more often than not, you're paying for coverage you'll never use.
Most electronics already come with a warranty from the manufacturer, so additional coverage is redundant in many cases. Also, if you paid with a credit card, check your card's benefits. Often, you're protected there too.
Instead of buying extended coverage, put the money you would have spent on the warranty in a dedicated account. If your device is out of warranty and breaks, pay for repairs out of this fund. This is like insuring yourself — and if you never need it, you keep the money.
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Sources
Salsify, 'Brand Trust Makes 87% of Shoppers Pay More for Products — Here's Why.'
Tebra, 'Do lower prices make generic medications the top choice for Americans?'
This article originally appeared on 5 Things You Overspend a Little On That Add Up Quickly
