Money Habits That Will Drain Your Bank Account & How To Change That

It's so easy to spend your money these days with the help of contactless. A tap here, a tap there, it's so easy to subconsciously spend more money than you realise. I would say that since the pandemic in 2020, using contactless has become more common. Bad money habits can easily creep into our lives. Some are wanted, some are unwanted - it's the unwanted money habits that you need to look out for.

Sometimes the unwanted bad money habits aren't the biggest things, it's the smallest ones that are sometimes the issue. I'm not going to lie, I've bought things and signed up for subscriptions that cost me monthly. We've all done it and we'll still continue to do it. 

I've made a lot of cutbacks lately and it's been surprising how much money I have saved by making a few changes. These changes have been small, but I've noticed a significant difference in my finances since carrying them out. These bad money habits that I have taken control of are ones that you may think about cutting back on too. 

Here are the bad money habits that I have managed to get rid of:

1) Takeaways

Ordering a takeaway is so easy to do, especially when you can't be bothered to cook. It's so easy to hit Just Eat or Deliveroo and order from your favourite fast food place. But, rather than be lazy and order a takeaway, a takeaway is something I consider a luxury now and I will only order one at the most, once a week. Sometimes it can be a couple of weeks without ordering something! To me, that's big progress and I've saved a lot of money by getting off my bum and cooking something, even if it's just a microwave meal! 

2) Unsubscribing to unused subscriptions

Let's face it, we're all subscribed to a subscription we either no longer have use for or can't remember why you signed up in the first place! I've taken the time to look at what goes out of my account monthly and whittled down which subscriptions I have no use for and hit the "unsubscribe" button. I haven't saved a huge amount of money a month, but a saving is a saving!

3) Shopping online

Probably my biggest financial recoup is not shopping online from high street retailers. It's been so long since I've ordered something from ASOS (my biggest spend at times). I so much prefer to buy from Vinted at a fraction of the price! The quality of the items I have bought from there has been great and also selling clothes I no longer wear on the website is a great way for me to make a little extra money!

4) Buying a takeaway coffee/tea

Now, this is something I don't really do because 1) I don't drink coffee and 2) It's just a waste of money for me. It's nice as a treat once in a while, but when it's more sustainable to buy your own coffee machine and make it at home, it may save you a little every month. 

5) Buying bottled water

Surely it's cheaper and more sustainable to buy a reusable bottle to fill up with water? 

6) Doing at-home beauty treatments

Whether you have your nails done, get your lashes done or get yourself a fake tan, these are the types of at-home beauty treatments you can do at home. One thing I have mentioned is getting your hair done. Now, for me, this is my one big treat as I love going to the hairdressers to have mine done. I only have my hair done every 3 months so it's not an extortionate outgoing. 

Now, more habits will drain your bank account and there are so many ways to save money. I think if I mention them all, this will be like reading a book, not a blog post. Also, we all spend our money differently, we all like to treat ourselves in different ways and we all like to save money in different ways. This post is just a little bit of advice and things I've picked up from not only myself but others too, I'm not a qualified financial advisor. 

There was no way I was going to delve into topics like credit cards, purely because I don't have one and need to gain more knowledge of credit cards and interest. 

As I said though, there are so many effective ways to save money by stopping bad money habits. 

Let me know your thoughts, do you have money habits you'd like to get rid of?