The Most Expensive Habits We Have—And How To Break Them
Humans are creatures of habit. We do something until it becomes a habit and part of our lives. Some habits are good for you—exercising and the like. But others can prove destructive. So, what are some of our most expensive habits, and how do we break them?
The Daily Coffee
Financial gurus have different opinions on whether or not you should buy that daily coffee. Some say you should abstain from buying coffee out and spend less per cup by making it at home. Others say not to worry about it and buy that daily coffee if it makes you happy. More than 50% of Americans buy coffee daily, spending roughly $312 annually. We're not saying you should give up coffee (we understand), but it is an expensive habit that costs you hundreds each year.
How Can You Break The Habit?
Start by buying the means to make your coffee at home—a coffee machine, Aeropress, or French press, depending on how you like it—and some local beans. That way, you just have to boil a kettle or fire up the coffee maker, and away you go. Depending on how much coffee you drink daily, your at-home brew will cost you less than a dollar. Meanwhile, your local coffee shop will charge you $4-5 to make the same drink.
Krakenimages.com, Shutterstock
Streaming Service Subscriptions
You may be subscribed to streaming services that you don't use regularly. Between Netflix and Disney+, Amazon Prime, and any number of others, our habit of subscribing to streaming services (because TV packages are much more expensive) may not be entirely healthy for our wallets. The average American family spends $61 per month on streaming services. That's over $700 per year! See which services you can cut from your subscriptions to save yourself money.
How Can You Break The Habit?
Take stock of how many streaming services you're currently subscribed to. Once you've done that, you'll have a dollar figure that's hard to ignore. Once you have that amount, determine if you can be without them. If so, then cancel your subscription. Hey, presto, there will be immediate savings next month!
Retail Therapy
We get it: It's nice to treat yourself to something you've been eyeing up for a while. And there's no initial harm in doing so. It's when this "retail therapy" approach becomes a weekly or bi-weekly habit. Whether that's a big lunch or dinner out every week or a new expensive item of clothing, on average, a middle-income earner in the US with a retail therapy habit will spend $1,404 per year buying something new every week.
How Can You Break The Habit?
This may be a challenge if you're used to it—but no more so than cutting down on alcohol or kicking that smoking habit. Write out a monthly budget for yourself, then check your bank account and see how much those frequent retail therapy purchases are cutting into your monthly surplus. Are you buying away your kids' college or emergency funds without thinking about it? Try to shop less and find new ways to get a dopamine hit, like exercise or spending time with your friends and family.
Food Waste
Food waste is a huge issue around the world. When you consider that around 780 million people worldwide are at risk of starvation, the amount of food waste in your country will disgust you. Roughly 80% of Americans throw away food a couple of days past its expiry date—wasting more than $1,600 annually.
How Can You Break The Habit?
Wasting food is bad for your wallet and awful for the environment and the world. Breaking the habit of throwing food away may require creativity. Starting a garden is a great way to reduce food waste because anything compostable goes immediately into a compost pile, which you can then use for the garden. You can also try contributing your household food waste to a local community garden's compost pile or feeding people experiencing homelessness by donating food that's about to expire to a shelter.
Dinners Out, All The Time
Sometimes, a dinner out is a wonderful treat. It can be a great way to have a romantic evening with your significant other (away from the kids), a great time for a family meal, or to try a new restaurant or type of food on your own. But when you start taking the family or yourself out for dinner more than twice a week, it becomes a habit that could cost you as much as $2,500 a year.
How Can You Break The Habit?
Eating dinner out will become one of the most expensive habits you could develop, second only to smoking or drinking. To help break this habit, plan a monthly budget and follow it with a meal plan. Meal planning will force you to eat what's in your fridge and prevent you from reflexively or whimsically deciding to eat out.
Smoking
Of course, smoking is one of the most expensive habits Americans have. It's reported that up to 28.3 million Americans still smoke—that's just under 10% of the population. While the health risks associated with the habit are well-documented, and although a smoker's lifespan will be shorter than that of a non-smoker, American smokers still spend up to $5.2 million on cigarettes throughout their lifetimes.
How Can You Break The Habit?
Kicking a smoking habit is one of the hardest things you'll ever do. But it's among the most rewarding for your health, well-being, and wallet. Consider nicotine replacement therapy to help you kick that smoking habit.
The Incredible Cost Of Food Delivery Services
Let's face it: SkipTheDishes and Uber Eats are very convenient. And sure, they're excellent options if you don't have time to cook a meal or drive and pick up a pizza or other take-out food. However, the extent to which Americans use food delivery services when they don't have to is costing them an average of $1,850 annually.
How Can You Break The Habit?
Food delivery services exist because they're convenient. But if you want to break the habit of using Uber Eats or SkipTheDishes, you may even break two habits simultaneously—eating take-out food. Force yourself to follow this rule: "If I can't drive or walk to pick up the food, I'll eat in". Sure, it won't work every time, and it's inconvenient, but you'll save yourself nearly $2,000 a year.
