How do you leak money?

[TorqueDog]

- Cable bill (even though I have the bare minimum so I can get all the SportsNet HD channels)
- Phone bill (I have two lines - one is a data line for my tablet that *never leaves the house*)
- Gym membership I don't use (I have a gym in my building I use regularly)

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Online shopping for sure....some stuff I keep if it's too much trouble to send it back.

God this is so me. I just cant be bothered to return things.

Also lunches out.

[RogerWilco]

Originally Posted by Kavvy

I am trying to stop the leak in my fiances. I currently have a job, but with the downturn, it seems like a good time to stop spending money on items I don't need.

For example,

-HBO Canada - $20/month was leaving my account because I watch VEEP and GoT (although Last Week almost made me keep it). For me the movie options wasn't worth the fee.
-I phoned Shaw and saved $8/month on my plan due to other reasons.... it isn't going to break the bank, but hey, its free money
-Google Music was charging me money every month for a service I don't use.
-Gym membership I don't use enough was cancelled.



What do you spend money on which doesn't add anything to your life, or adds very little value?

I actually had a security system at one time that I had not armed in two years. So that was about $45 a month that was for nothing.

[jayocal]

My wife.

[DigitalCarpenter]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

I like this show but there was one scene that was absolutely absurd. Basically one of the dumb in debt guys was talking about wanting to have a baby and the lady was like "Yeah -- let's go see how much that would cost". They went to some high end boutique and picked out all brand new stuff -- crib, stroller, car seat, clothes, bottles, food, everything brand new at the highest price point. Rang in at like way over three grand and the guy was devastated.

Good grief, my wife and I are having our first in 6 weeks (or so) and haven't even spent ten percent of that, and we're basically ready to go. The amount of bargain bin/free second hand stuff there is in the world of baby things is enormous.

It's not the cost of the stuff that can sink you with babies for us it was the loss of income for a year that is the real cost of having kids.

This is why we decided to stop at 2. A 3rd child would have crippled us financially.

Agreed on the amount of baby stuff you can accumulate through gifts and hand me downs. It gets to the point where you can't wait to give it away when the kids are done with it just to free up space in your house.

[#-3]

I let my wife carry credit cards around with her, seems to do a pretty good job of bleeding everything i have.

I also eat out a little too much, and I'm a little more wasteful than I'd like to be with Gas, Food, breaking hand held electronics...... I think I could save allot of money by not letting veggies go bad, driving around less, not breaking my phones so often.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

The amount of bargain bin/free second hand stuff there is in the world of baby things is enormous.

Go garage sale hopping in the summer, every second house is baby/kid stuff.

On topic though, I pay for cable every month and never watch it.

[Sylvanfan]

Buy your food fresh when it's in season and can it, or cold store it. Between that and driving the speed limit, I will feel like I am 105 years old.

[Street Pharmacist]

Food. So much needless eating out and then over doing the grocery store. Every six months I probably their out a few hundred dollars worth of meat and probably that much in veggies over the six months.

[stampsx2]

Your Enmax bill. If someone could figure out a way to reduce that. $300/month is ridiculous. Turning off the lights when you leave the room is a start but not a huge difference.

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Your Enmax bill. If someone could figure out a way to reduce that. $300/month is ridiculous. Turning off the lights when you leave the room is a start but not a huge difference.

Seriously. Are people in other provinces paying anywhere near as much as we are for utilities?

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by Ahuch

Seriously. Are people in other provinces paying anywhere near as much as we are for utilities?

I have family in BC that pays about 30% less than we do with a comparable home, lifestyle etc. Of course they pay higher taxes on other things, but point is that it could definitely be cheaper here.

On the original topic - I tend to waste money on dining out when busy, snacks at an airport and food that I forget in the fridge that goes bad.

[Swarly]

I know I spend a lot on eating out, but what sort of lunches do you guys bring that are in the $3-4 range? I can get a steak sandwich at the pub, with tip it is $10. If I pack lunch, the deli meat for my two sandwiches is ~$6-7, not counting bread, lettuce, condiments ( I know that is very little cuz it last for so many sandwiches). Plus add in whatever value you put on your time and it seems like you are coming out ahead by eating a $10 steak sandwich, or paying $8 at subway.

edit: almost forgot the cheese on the sandwich, thats about another $1/day. most of the other things brought up in this thread I have done and agree with but anytime I look at cutting my lunch budget I don't see the point. At most I see myself saving $30-60 a month not counting my time value, in which case I'm better off working an extra hour here and there.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Swarly

I know I spend a lot on eating out, but what sort of lunches do you guys bring that are in the $3-4 range? I can get a steak sandwich at the pub, with tip it is $10. If I pack lunch, the deli meat for my two sandwiches is ~$6-7, not counting bread, lettuce, condiments ( I know that is very little cuz it last for so many sandwiches). Plus add in whatever value you put on your time and it seems like you are coming out ahead by eating a $10 steak sandwich, or paying $8 at subway.

edit: almost forgot the cheese on the sandwich, thats about another $1/day. most of the other things brought up in this thread I have done and agree with but anytime I look at cutting my lunch budget I don't see the point. At most I see myself saving $30-60 a month not counting my time value, in which case I'm better off working an extra hour here and there.

You are putting $6-7 worth of meat on every sandwich? No wonder you are going broke.

Pack of bolgna - $5
Artisan Bread (I'm a bread snob) - $3/loaf
Mayo - $8 (jar lasts 1 1/2-2 months)
Lettuce - $3/head

I've just spend $11 and change for a weeks worth of sandwiches. I take 2 a day. Takes me about 5 minutes to make my lunch in the morning before work.

So, round that up to $50 month (time, effort, extra, etc) for my sandwiches.

That's what you would spend in a week getting that sandwich at the pub every day, and I ate for the entire month. A $150 difference...

[Swift]

How much time is lost in making a sandwich? It takes about 2 minutes every morning. That's 2 minutes I would've spent staring at the morning news I guess.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

You are putting $6-7 worth of meat on every sandwich? No wonder you are going broke.

Pack of bolgna - $5
Artisan Bread (I'm a bread snob) - $3/loaf
Mayo - $8 (jar lasts 1 1/2-2 months)
Lettuce - $3/head

I've just spend $11 and change for a weeks worth of sandwiches. I take 2 a day. Takes me about 5 minutes to make my lunch in the morning before work.

So, round that up to $50 month (time, effort, extra, etc) for my sandwiches.

That's what you would spend in a week getting that sandwich at the pub every day, and I ate for the entire month. A $150 difference...

well thats the differnce there I guess. yes if you eat bologna every day or mix in some peanut butter sandwiches for change I will agree. Not $6-7/ sandwich but 100grams of meat on each X 2.

[Dan02]

I doubt you're getting it done in 2 minutes with getting all the ingredients together, making your sandwich, packing them and cleaning up.

Though maybe you are in the speed sandwich competition.

And I don't think a pack of bologna is gonna cover 10 sandwiches...

and don't the same boring lunches every day get a litte umm... boring?

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Swarly

If I pack lunch, the deli meat for my two sandwiches is ~$6-7, .

Goodness, that's your problem right there...

EDIT: If you're eating 200 grams of deli meat for lunch every day I don't think you'll make it far past 40 years old either.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Swarly

well thats the differnce there I guess. yes if you eat bologna every day or mix in some peanut butter sandwiches for change I will agree. Not $6-7/ sandwich but 100grams of meat on each X 2.

Fair enough. I was using the pack of bologna as an example, but I do like to mix it up. I'm pretty partial to peppered ham from the deli. I get 300-400g at a go. Lasts me the week, costs around 5-8 dollars...which isn't significantly more than the bologna. I find most deli meat to be in the $5-8 range. But it sounds like we have a different idea of quantity required per sandwich, which would definitely affect the price.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Goodness, that's your problem right there...

EDIT: If you're eating 200 grams of deli meat for lunch every day I don't think you'll make it far past 40 years old either.

well i dont, I eat out. but when i make a sandwich i want to taste the meat, not eat a loaf of bread. If you dont eat 200grams of meat then you will have to add something else to your meal to actually fill up on it. so throw in a yogurt, or banana, maybe some almonds?

point was I would actually love to hear a half decent lunch for $5/day. maybe I came off more argumentative than I meant but I was actually hoping to learn.