Back in August, I spent $160 on a hotel that was significantly cheaper than the ones surrounding it. I was hoping that I found a deal. Of course, it backfired on me.
In that post, I mentioned the reasons for why we left the hotel just minutes after we checked in (including there being blood splatters in the hotel room) yet they still would not give us a refund. We have since disputed the charge on our credit card, but I’m still not sure how it’s going to turn out.
Many people each and every single day make the mistake of trying to save money, yet end up wasting money in the end.
I’m guilty of doing this. Many times I go the cheap route because I hope it will work out in my favor in the end. Well, I have been wrong on many occasions!
Below are six ways being cheap can cost you money:
1. Buying cheap clothing.
This is a bad habit I just cannot seem to kick. I am guilty of shopping at stores like Forever 21 and buying extremely cheap clothing that won’t last past one year.
Instead, I need to focus on buying clothing that will last longer. It will save me money in that I won’t have to buy the same clothing items over and over again, and I can also save time because I won’t have to go shopping as often.
2. Skipping insurance.
Whether we’re talking about health insurance, life insurance, car insurance, home insurance, or something else, usually it’s a good idea to get insurance. Unless you can self-insure yourself (which most people cannot), then buying insurance can save you money and a lot of stress in the long run.
If something large comes up, then it can ruin your finances and bury you in debt if you do not have the correct form of insurance.
3. Shopping on “deal” websites.
I used to hop on Groupon every single morning. Yep, EVERY single morning.
It was a horrible habit.
I always wanted to see if I could find any deals, and I would hop on any good deal that I could fine. Sad to say, this was a huge waste of money. I ended up buying Groupons just to buy them because of the amount of money I was “saving.” Instead, I was wasting money on things I didn’t even need.
4. Driving a far distance to save pennies on gas.
There are many gas apps and websites out there right now. With how expensive gas costs, that makes sense. However, for the most part, gas usually does not vary by much from gas station to gas station. Yes, it can make sense if you are going to be near the gas station with the best value, however…
I personally know someone who will drive miles and miles to save a few pennies on each gallon on gas, and in the end if this person would actually calculate their savings, they would probably realize that they are wasting time and money by driving to the farther gas stations.
5. Thinking DIY will always save you money.
DIY will not always save you money. This is something many people do not realize. If you do not have the patience or skills to do a DIY project, you may find that you are wasting both time and money.
Related article: DIY Wedding Ideas – Worth It Or A Waste Of Money?
6. Neglecting routine maintenance.
Whether it be for your house, your car, or your health, there might be something that you may be forgetting or neglecting to do. These could include:
- Fixing a clogged drain before it gets out of hand.
- Repairing a leaky pipe.
- Replacing tires on your car.
- Getting oil changes when they need to be done.
- Going to the dentist every six months.
- And much, much more.
With your maintenance, you always want to make sure you do it and that you do not do it cheaply. Yes, you can do things “frugally,” just make sure they are done high quality. You do not want to skip maintenance and have to pay more money later because a major problem could have been prevented, or do a shoddy maintenance job and find out the whole thing needs to be completely redone.
An example would be skipping going to the dentist for years so that you can “save” money. Then, after you finally go, you find out you could have saved money and some of your teeth by visiting the dentist regularly for cleanings.
How has being cheap cost you money?
What was your last money mistake?
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Good points! Saving isn’t always the best solution. You mentioned driving a far distance to save pennies on gas: you are right the price from gas station to gas station doesn’t vary that much and it’s usually a waste of time to drive 20 miles just to get cheaper prices. Time is more important than money. You can have unlimited amount of money but the time isn’t unlimited. It’s a scarce resource, we should always keep that in mind!
Thanks Simon! I agree. Driving for cheaper gas is just something I’ve never done. Doesn’t make much sense to me.
I have been guilty of number 1 so many times, with clothes and especially handbags. I’m getting better though 🙂
Same here 🙂
I don’t think buying cheap clothes will always make you end costing more money in the long run. I like to buy cheap clothes for things that I don’t wear that often, because that way, I’m actually saving money. That being said, I usually opt for higher quality products for things that I wear daily so they last longer.
Yes, you are correct. For trendy items that you know you won’t wear often, going cheap can save you money since you don’t really need it to last long anyways.
Yeah it’s definitely a hard habit to kick, and that probably stems from having a scarcity mindset towards money growing up. But when you get into this online thing where there is no limit on potential earnings, it’s important to switch to an abundance mindset about money, because without an abundance mindset the big $ usually don’t come!
Thanks Jack!
Cheap clothing….it’s the worst. I think when we get our first job we buy as much cheap clothing as possible so we have professional wear each day. But in the end it’s so much better to buy a few quality pieces and build your wardrobe over time.
Thankfully I don’t really need professional clothing anymore! 🙂 I definitely bought a lot of cheap things back then though.
I agree with everything you said. I used to be really guilty of #1. Have you tried shopping at Thred Up? It’s second hand clothing but it’s all high quality and in near perfect condition. I’ve been buying the majority of my clothes from them and love it. On the other hand my second favorite pair of jeans came from K-Mart and I’ve been wearing them for two years. I guess sometimes you get lucky with cheap clothes 🙂
I’ve never heard of Thred Up! Interesting! I don’t spend nearly as much on clothing as I used to, so it’s not as big of a problem anymore.
I actually have a pair of $9 jeans from Forever 21 that have lasted quite some time. I usually go back once a year to buy a new pair of the exact same jeans, and it’s definitely something that I’ve been lucky with as well. They are my favorite!
Totally agree on the importance of routine/preventative maintenance. Taking care of things (including self & hound) will almost always stave off future, more expensive fixes. Your point about buying quality is key too–we buy just about everything used, but of high quality. It’s cheaper than new stuff and, it really does last longer!
Yes, buying used high quality items is a great way to save money. Good job!
These are good examples. Routine maintenance is a big one. If you neglect your home or car, it will cost you in the long run.
I paid for a $99 room at the Fantasuites for our anniversary once and we walked out and left within 15 minutes. I felt like I was going to get murdered!
Haha bad hotels are the worst. We thought we were going to get murdered as well!
These are all such valid points!! I definitely buy cheap clothing probably way more often than I should (though, if I’m being real, I don’t buy any clothing all that much haha). You are correct though – the quality stuff lasts SO much longer. I have a few good pairs of jeans that I’ve had for 5+ years and they’re still in great condition! Thanks for the tips – great read!!
Thank you Sarah!
I keep telling my friends to get off groupon because it just makes them blow money. I think some people are practically addicted to it. I haven’t even used the last groupon I bought a year and a half ago. What a waste.
Yeah, I’m sure I have a few Groupons that need to be used. What a waste of money.
Going on a Carnival cruise since it’s usually the cheapest cruise line out there and then going adrift…or sinking. (Note: This hasn’t happened to us yet.)
Do you often go on Carnival cruises? Or is this just an example? 🙂
We’ve gone on a few cruises, but have yet to try Carnival. Their prices are tempting, but we don’t want being cheap to end up costing us a nice vacation! 🙂 Have you had any pos/neg experiences with them or other cruiselines?
I’ve only gone on Royal Caribbean. We went on the newest and biggest cruiseship in the world (Allure of the Seas), so I’m sure I don’t really know how cruising is haha!
I’m guilty of neglecting routine maintenance and buying cheap clothing. It’s funny because habits really do stick. It’s not until you realize what going on and commit to making a change that they go away.
Yes! It can be very hard to change this. I’ve been getting better though.
Yep, I’ve been guilty of lots of these. In fact, I just bought a fleece jacket at Old Navy, and my husband commented, “Nice. Just don’t wash it, or it’ll fall apart.” 🙂
Speaking of my husband, he’s a cautionary tale in putting off dental visits. (He didn’t do it to save money, though, since our insurance pays for cleanings.) He didn’t go for 9.5 years, and had 10 cavities and needed a root canal, when he finally went. He could’ve had twice yearly cleanings for free (not including the cost of our dental insurance, of course), but instead it cost us $1,000 to deal with all the cavities and the root canal.
Oh no! That really stinks. $1,000 for all of that seems fairly cheap for all of that work though. What kind of dental insurance do you have?
Our insurance paid for the standard, metal fillings, but our dentist only uses the white kind. (Not sure of the material.) So we had to pay the $65 difference for each one. Also, we learned that the insurance company (Guardian) pays out a maximum of $1500 per person on the policy, each plan year. So he’s actually holding off on the four remaining fillings until January.
This experience gave me a whole new appreciation of how much my parents must’ve spent on my teeth, since I had braces THREE times!
I’m jealous! We don’t have dental insurance and I recently had tooth trauma (I bumped my tooth on something), and my root canal and crown cost me $2,000!
I’m fortunate enough to work in an industry where I get free swag all the time, so I don’t have to shop for clothes at all unless I want to (or for evening wear, etc). I burn through so many shoes a year because I walk a LOT, and buy shoes two pairs at a time with none of that mesh-cheapo stuff. That being said, I have cheap-ed out on food and it’s NEVER been worth it. I’m a picky eater, and it seems like the less a person pays for food, the less the people preparing it seem to care (which is bad for me). I don’t mind dropping a tonne of money on food if it is well prepared and good for me. In the grocery store, I will see cheaper versions of a product, and then turn to the back and see it is loaded with all kinds of horrible ingredients that make me gag. So yeah..I’ll take the more expensive one with just regular ingredients. Eventually I’ll probably just end up growing most of my own food as I get older and more allergic to everything in this country (as more and more synthetic food is mass produced). That being said, the idea of vertical farming is really interesting to me, if they ever get that going on a massive, ubiquitous scale.
I want to get into growing a lot of my own food as well. We plan on starting that soon and I hope I do not kill everything.
I used to buy cheap clothes and wristwatch because I really love collecting wrist watch. 🙂 But after a few times of wearing it, the clothes really look awful that I couldn’t afford to wear it anymore! So for me, I only choose a good quality of clothes and other things than cheaper prices.
Good job Clarisse! 🙂