fbpx

Money Saving Articles

4 Ways you’re overpaying

4 Ways you're overpaying Paying a price for convenience. Buying prepackaged and individually-wrapped foods like sliced fruit or cheese is one way most people overspend without realizing it. You’re paying a high price for the convenience and the plastic. If you’re pressed for time during the week, set aside a few hours on Sunday to slice and package snacks for the week. It doesn’t take very long and doing it all at once saves you the convenience during the week when you’re rushed.

Buying music instead of streaming. Music is something people spend a lot of money on and for a lot of us, music is very important. But that doesn’t mean you have to overpay for it. Buying a full album for only one song is a thing of the past; why are you still paying for something you can easily get for free? Services like Pandora and Grooveshark are all over the internet and on your phones. You can stream music for free over an iPhone, iPod touch or an Android phone. I’m not saying you shouldn’t reward your favorite artists by buying their albums. In fact, stream their music (these legal methods pay the artists royalties) and buy their merchandise – that’s where they make most of their money anyway. You can also only purchase the music you really love and stream the stuff you listen to occasionally.

Getting an extended warranty from a retailer. Extended warranties can save you big time in the event of catastrophic electronic failure, but that doesn’t mean you have to purchase them from the same place you bought the TV. SquareTrade.com  offers extended warranties on a number of electronics and their coverage beats that of Best Buy and undercuts them on price. Often times, getting a retailer to play nice with your warranty coverage can be a huge hassle, but when dealing with a company like SquareTrade, it’s much easier and you can purchase the warranty at any time. They even have some coverage for used eBay purchases.

Buying home fitness equipment. Unless you already have a workout routine that you stick to, buying a home gym is almost always a waste of money. Many people have great ideas about the steps they want to take in life, but never actually follow through. Spending thousands of dollars or even hundreds on fitness equipment you use for a month just isn’t worth it. If you’re planning on starting a workout schedule, try the gym first. Buying a one month subscription to see if you’ll stick with it is a more solid investment, even if it’s $50. If you need some help with motivation, enroll in a class at a community college or recreational center.

2 Responses

  • Posted by Sara on Dec 28, 2010

    Streaming media is my new favorite thing. I subscribe to Netflix instead of cable and I listen to Grooveshark and Pandora throughout the day instead of listening to the ad-filled radio. I have never purchased an extended warranty from a place like Best Buy either; Square Trade has much better deals. Now if only I would start exercising…

  • Posted by Robert on May 30, 2011

    That treadmill in my room does a great job at holding clothes. I don’t even want to think about how much I paid for that thing.

Post a Comment