Budget Busters Top 10 Redux

Ok, so you’ve been trying to save money. You’ve changed your spending habits, and you’re really not a really big spender. So, where is all that money going?

I had a bad case of bloggers block this week, so I decided to do some (financial) housekeeping. Here’s what I found in my stack of weekly receipts :

Cigarettes: Average $4.54 per pack, one pack a day, 7 days a week, costs $1650 per year not to mention major health costs and implications.

Bottled Water: Average $1.00 per bottle (non major brand*). Purchased at the local convenience store, one bottle per day costs $365 per year. *major brands can cost upwards of $3 per bottle

Soft Drinks: Average $1.50 per bottle. One bottle per day will seperate you from $548 per year.

Manicures: Average $21.00,* * add in a pedicure everyother week at $20 Keeping fingers and toes in tip top shape can set you back $806 per year.

Lunch Out: Average $10.00 buy lunch out 5 days a week rather than brown bagging and you’ll spend a mindblowing $2600 per year.

Coffee and a Newspaper: Average $1.50 per cup and $.50 per paper. (Don’t even think about going to the local Java shop) Catching up on the world and getting an extra caffine kick during the work week will cost you a whopping $520 per year.

Car Wash: Average $15 for basic car wash, twice a month, you’ll shell out $195 annually. Opt for a full detail and you’ll spend upwards of $400.

Drinks After Work: Of course drink prices vary by location and bar, but order just two bottled beers, inc luding tip for your bartender and you’ll part with $4000 or so a year. Add in the occasional munchie tray and you’re spending over $5000. This ain’t your mama’s pretzles and beer here.

Pizza: Order a large pizza with the works delivered to your house once a week, including tip and you’ll spend $468 per year. Get the Door…. !!

And Last, but not least:

Credit Card Interest Charges: Making the minimum payment on about $6000 worth of Credit Card debt at an average interest rate of 13% will not only take you the next 21 years to pay off, but will cost you almost $4,800 over the life of the debt.

So Lets do the math here. Eliminating these 10 little budget busters completely will save you a whopping $11,152 plus or so per year! Not too shabby!

Now about that $700 Billion Dollar bail out…