Do you want to guess what these money wasters are before reading? You probably fall for at least half of them, I know I do :) Found these over at Free Money Finance, who found them over at Yahoo, and couldn't help but chime in here. Y'all know I love this stuff.

Someone's list of the Top 6 Mindless Money Wasters:

1. Convenience Stores - I am a SUCKER for these. I don't know what it is about 7-Elevens and gas stations, but I cannot go in there and avoid spending money! It's like they rounded up the best of the goodies and put them all in one spot - Slurpees, beef jerkies, coffees, lottos - LOVE! Very hard to resist (which is why you should avoid 'em like the H1N1 (remember that?)).
2. Cell Phone Plans - Got me again! Damn iPhone and its damn convenience ;) But as I've mentioned before, the extra $30-$40/mo is totally worth it to me. Don't wanna cut this out.
3. Soft Drinks - Success! I've been doing pretty well in this category ever since giving it up for Lent 3 years ago. Only drink it on the weekends, and we get a super-duper pack from the grocery store whenever they go on sale - it lasts months now.
4. Unnecessary Bank Fees - Oh hell no. I don't do bank fees very well...not to say I never mess up, cuz I do!, but just that I have no qualms calling up good ol' USAA and getting it worked out ;) When you have a decent record you can get away with a bit more.
5. Magazines - Hmm....yeah, I probably pay my fair share here. I'm signed up to 5 that cost around $75 a year (Money, Kiplingers, Smart Money, Fortune, and This Old House). Well worth it for the information, and keen on my eyes during daily work commutes.
6. Annual Credit Card Fees - Neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I don't see the point in these unless you run some company that saves you a lot more in return (although that Black Card is pretty sexy).

So yeah, nothing too shocking with these money wasters, but it's always cool to check in and see if there's room for improvement. Or rather, if you DESIRE to make any improvements I should say ;) How do you guys fare with these?

Labels: blown money, in the real world, one of my lists

There are chicks actually doing this - can you believe it? Selling your virginity for money?! Oh man, talk about entrepreneurs ;)

But let me ask you this. Honestly, if you could take it back - knowing what you do now about it all - would YOU give up yours for a large amount of money? And if you say no, which I'm guessing 85% of you will (you know we'll have some guys raise their hands on this one), is there a price point that would change your mind?

It's funny. Whenever I hear about this stuff the first thing that crosses my mind is "What the f*ck?" WHO would do that? But then as I read their stories it gets less offensive for some reason. They need the money to go to college, or they need a new house, etc etc. I'm not saying I agree with it or that I'd do it myself (I wouldn't - I'm a good little Catholic boy) but I find it extremely interesting that others would. I mean, they're not only doing something so out of normalcy here, but they're doing it publicly!!! For everyone to see - knowing they're gonna get slammed for it! (no pun intended) It's absolutely stunning.

And if you think about it, you KNOW it's going to be the safest sex ever. The winner/highest bidder will get checked out like none other to make sure he's (she's?) clean as a whistle, and there will be bodyguards everywhere making sure the guy's not a psychopath. Which, lets be honest, would be hard not to come across as.

Unless, perhaps, the person "buying her" does it in order for her NOT to give it up! It's a long shot, but anything's possible right? If you had a billion dollars and were totally against this nonsense, would you jump in and save her? I sure as hell would. If I were clever enough to think of it first ;) Can you imagine the press I'd get for Budgets Are Sexy doing that!! Or even working on BUDGETING that in? haha...oh man, good times.

But enough about me, what do you guys think? And what do you *honestly* think, not the answer you know we want to hear ;) Is there a price that you just couldn't turn down? Say, $2 million dollars? Or are there just some things that are strictly off the table?

Labels: blown money, cockamamy indeed, in the real world

Every now and then someone asks me if I ever mess up and waste money. And my answer to that is always the same - Yep, mess up all the time. Just because I blog about personal finance, doesn't mean I'm mr. perfect ;) I'm a lot smarter than I was 4-5 years ago when it comes to money, but I still mess up. And a lot more than you'd actually think.

It doesn't matter if I track my expenses every day or every week, the real world is no match for a human. The only way you could win 100% of the time is if you were locked up somewhere or if you were, in fact, a computer. And seeing how you're reading this right now, I take it that you're neither of the two.

The trick is really just about messing up on the smaller things rather than the BIGGER things. If you can rock out your spend-less-than-I-make-lifestyle & stay away from huge mortgages & car payments, I find no problem with slipping up every now and then. It's not optimal, and you never PLAN to do it, but it happens. It's all a part of life, you know?

In fact, just last Friday I blew $5.00 on these damn cinnamon sticks from Pizza Hut because I wasn't paying good enough attention. Then I spent $3.50 for chap stick 15 minutes later because I didn't take the time to look for my normal .99 kind. Every week I do stupid stuff like this, but I try and not let it get to me. I know I'm handling our finances pretty well 90% of the time, and as long as we hit our major goals every year we're on track.

So do I, J. Money, ever mess up? I sure do. And I'm willing to bet every other person reading and blogging about personal finance does too. You can't make the right call 100% of the time, it's just not possible. It's more about being comfortable in your own financial skin and allowing yourself some breathing room. If you can master that, you'll live a much healthier (and happier) life. And one without going insane, as well.

Labels: about j., blown money, life, personal finance

I'm so glad I don't smoke cigarettes. In my 29 years I have yet to puff a single cigarette, and my wallet thanks me for it :) Coffee, on the other hand, is a whole other topic.

So today I figured I'd compare the two and see which is FINANCIALLY worse for you, as we all know that smoking beats coffee in the health department any day.

And interestingly enough, I came across this awesome Top 10 Money Drains post Bankrate put together a couple years ago which lists both coffee and cigarettes in the top 2 slots! So this is truly a battle of the most expensive vices we consume, beating out even alcohol (at #3) if you can imagine that.

The Cost of Cigarettes:

According to some averages around the net, it looks like an average pack of cigarettes cost about $5 and an average smoker goes through a full pack a day (20 cigarettes). Some quick math tells us that's a good $35 a week, or $140 a month, totaling a whopping $1680 a year! That blows, but just reaffirms my non-smoking happiness.

I actually thought I was one of the only cigarette virgins left on the planet too until I tweeted about it and found out a lot of you guys don't smoke either! How wonderful :) I took a snapshot of the tweets & facebook comments if you wanna check it out, I thought it was pretty cool to see. (you may need to click to zoom in on the image, it's pretty big.)

The Cost of Coffee:

It looks like the average cost for coffee runs you about $1.30ish (non Starbucks I'd imagine). So if you drink just a cup a day, let's say, you're looking at around $440 a year. If you ARE drinking Starbucks though, and some crazy concoction taking a good $3.00 from you each time, you're now looking at $1,000 per year - if anyone could seriously stomach that much coffee! I'd probably knock it down to about $800 a year factoring in a skipped day or two every week.

The Cost of Cigarettes and Coffee!

ERROR. ERROR. CAN'T COMPUTE. haha...I don't actually know too many people with this particular problem, but just for curiosity's sake let's give this a shot. If we add in the cost of cigs above, along with the cost of coffee we already calculated (non-Starbucks), they'd be looking at a $2100 yearly pricetag! That's one bad mother of a money suck.

Needless to say, cigarettes are financially worst by far. Even if you cut them out by half you're still spending more than on coffee. Plus, there's the whole addiction factor. While you might *think* you're addicted to coffee, smokers have it much much worse for sure (or so I'm told). Not only are they shelling out gobs of money to sustain this habit, but they are physically addicted and have a way harder time quitting than 99% of us coffee drinkers.

If you're one of these puffers, does the $1680 a year average sound about right? I'd be interested to see how much you really spend on them. If you've never calculated it, try out Cancer.org's cost of smoking calculator (fitting, huh?) to get a better idea. And if you're trying to quit, our prayers are with you!

Labels: blown money, in the real world

Hah! Good one FTC (Federal Trade Commission). I originally had this post titled, "How to Spot a Scam", but it just didn't do them justice ;) Check out this email below and tell me if it's not the awesomest thing you've ever read from them:

Today's troubled economic waters are infested with a voracious school of sharks -- con artists who are promising people a lifeline through jobs, recession-proof income, and access to free government grant money. They are bleeding money from individuals, and from the economy as a whole.

That's why the Federal Trade Commission and its partners are moving aggressively through enforcement and education. As the nation's consumer protection agency, we've produced a new video to help people learn how to spot a scam. It features two scam victims and a former telemarketer of fraudulent business opportunities who explains exactly how he got people to part with their money:


We hope you'll share this video and help your readers learn just how crooks worm their way into their wallets. More resources about helping people avoid business opportunity scams are at www.ftc.gov/bizopp. Did you like it?

Labels: awesomely awesome, blown money, in the real world, scams

OMG I haven't read anything this funny on Craigslist since I last tried to sell my Humpty Dumpty plate for a $1! A Lil Wayne Impersonator? Hah! It just goes to show what money can buy you...or in this case, all the doors it can open. A+ for effort dad, we hope you find your lil rapper for your party.


(Whaaaaaaaat? Okaaaaeeeeeyyyyyyy!)

Labels: awesomely awesome, blown money, craigslist, in the real world, randomness 3000

Hello my Budgety friends! Today is the start of boy's weekend in New Orleans and I can already feel the dollars burning a whole in my pockets ;) I'd like to tell you I'll be saving them all and keeping a frugally low profile this weekend, but I already know it's just not happening.

You see, some days I just let myself go and do whatever I wish w/out worrying about money for the time being. Kinda like that whole "convenience tax" idea where you pay a little extra for something cuz it's quick and *there*, but you just let it slide and go about your way enjoying life as normal. And for some reason, it makes me feel all VIP like too! I'd never go crazy and pickup $200 jeans or $500 bottles of rum or anything like that, but I do let myself spend more freely during these weekends.

Here are 5 things I'll be blowing money on:

1. Checking in baggage - I know I'm a guy and should therefore be able to just throw things into a backpack or something, but I'm too "Metro" for that. I like to take way more than necessary so I have options. Plus, I hate lugging bags all around so I'll happily pay that $15/each way.
2. Airport food & coffee - My favorite part of traveling! Starbucks, donuts, pizza, all while waiting for our flight? Freakin' love it. Don't love the $50 price tag of course, but what happens on vacations stay on vacations ;)
3. Taxis - If there's one thing i hate dropping money on, it's taxis. I will walk miles to get somewhere if it saves me a buck or two (and the weather is nice), but when you're on vacay you have a limited amount of time. So if $12 means an extra hour of extended debauchery - I'm on it.
4. Group Dinners - The key here being, "wherever the group wants to go". When I plan them we go somewhere on the cheaper side, but we def. have some refined gentlemen amongst us at times. So if they want to chow down on $40 plates, then I shall follow suite and not say a peep.
5. Souvenirs - I'm such a hag when it comes to magnets or even maps! I dream about having a room wallpapered in maps of all the places i've visited over the years. Love it.
   

And because there are things I WILL be saving on, I should probably list out those here as well. After all, this is a frugalicious blog :) Here are 3 quickies we will save money on:

1. Alcohol - Probably the one consistent thing we all like to save money on! Pounding Miller Lights before we hit the bar scene. Not only does this sharpen our card playing skills, but it also allows for proper "bonding" and saves us a butt load by the time we hit the bars!
   
2. Hotel Room - We would cram 10 guys into a room if we could get away with it. Enough said.
3. Daytime Adventures - This usually consists of exploring around town and chatting about the good ol' college days. We rarely go see something specific like a play or an exhibit of some sort, so we save a lot of money by just walking around and goofing off.

Needless to say, we're gonna have a helluva good time :) And hopefully we'll have some juicy stories to come back with too! I heard something about giving away bead necklaces? Wonder what that's about... (Don't worry Mrs. Budgetsaresexy, I shall keep my promise on that non-nudity clause I signed.) Look for me on TwitPic!

Labels: blown money, life, splurging, travel

Yup, I fell for the ol' magazine scam back in my college days...and i didn't even see it coming! (Dumb & Dumber anyone?) I guess everyone has to learn sometime though, and better with small amounts than big ones.

For whatever reason, I remember this particular day as if it were just yesterday. The sun was shining, the birds were chirppin', and little ol' me had just began his sophomore year of College. As with many, it was also my very first time living on my own, and boy did I feel like The Man! No one had anything on me, I was invincible. Until the door started knocking.

I answered with a jovial "Why, hello! Welcome to my abode" - a courtesy I handed out to many a young ladies fellow friends over this 4 year period. But the person on the other end wasn't an your ordinary college student, oh no, he was that of the devil! Yup, he was a modern day scammer. And boy did his eyes light up the second he saw who answered. He couldn't have found a more naive, and less gullible, person had he set out to do so.

And with that, his words leaped out of him as if he were delivering the best news in the world - "It's YOUR lucky day my man!" he began with, sensing my excitement in return. "Today only, you can get this Hot Rod car magazine for half it's price!" (I believe i ended up ordering "Low Rider" mag). To which I exclaimed, "Wow, really? Gee Golly!" or something equally as idiotic.

So I grabbed my newly printed check book, printed out all sections as I had learned just a year or so before, and proudly handed him a check for $30.00. Boy, a magazine for 1/2 off! It was my lucky day :) And with that, he promptly took off w/out any more of an explanation than, "Thx kid! You'll get your first magazine in about....mumble mumble....". I took that for "1 month" and didn't give it another thought.

Until 4 months passed and I still hadn't seen a sign of my scantily clad women/car magazine :( It was then that woke up from this la-la dream of mine and realized you unfortunately cannot trust every person you meet. And what a shame that feeling was. It sucked losing that hard earned $30 (that's 6 hours at the cafeteria!), but it was a damn good lesson for me to learn.

And it's a good thing it happened when it did - I can't even imagine the trouble I could get into w/ all these Nigerian internet scams going on these days! Whew. And with that, I bid you adieu for the day. It was a pleasure rolling down memory lane with you.

Labels: blown money, life

Every now and then i come across something pretty damn funny that reminds me of my former self.

I usually then pat myself on the back and wonder if i'm as funny/cool/interesting as I was back when that "something" happened. But today, i didn't know whether to punch myself in the face, or nervously laugh it off.

There's no doubt about it - before '08, i was RETARDED when it came to money. Well, maybe not that bad, but i sure did like to splurge on non-necessities! Check this email i sent to my girl a year and a half ago:

"Lastly, before i go, if you are sitting there wondering to yourself, "do i REALLY want to spend $40 frivolously today?", then i have JUST the thing for you: BlingH20 water! it's the new rage in hollywood, everyone who's anyone is drinking it. and, in case you're wondering - yes, i will be drinking it too...in approx. 2-5 business days. (OH MY!)"

I charged $40.00 to my credit card for a fancy bottle of WATER! hahaah...oh man, talk about a marketers dream, eh? There's about a 5% chance i'd ever do something like that again - say if i win the lottery, get a huge a$$ bonus, or perhaps if i get a little drizzunk in front of a computer ;)

And the most interesting part of it all, is that i still haven't drank the dang thing! It's literally sitting on my desk right this very moment smiling at me. I think at this point i'm just holding onto it in case it's ever worth anything...the thought of drinking it all down, dollar after dollar, isn't as sexy as I'd originally imagined ;) Although perhaps it's filled with miracles?!?!

The point of all this, though, is just that we all have the ability to change, especially when it comes to our spending habits. And sometimes it happens naturally, like when you get married, or when you buy a house, or even if you lose your job. Life happens, and it changes us.

The trick of it all is to remind yourself that you're gonna make some pretty bozo transactions here and there, but to REMEMBER them so you don't fall for it again. And even if you do, who cares - you're alive and you're TRYING ;)

Labels: blown money, cockamamy indeed, money management

One hundred and twenty - three dollars, can you believe that?!

And the sad part is, we could have EASILY avoided it altogether! arghh....just thinking of it gives me the heebie jeebies.

Oh well, as soon as I get it out of my system here I'll lock it up in the old "stop thinking about me" department ;)


The whole thing started when we were invited to a combined bachelor/bachelorette party up in Philly at a Dave and Busters bowling alley. It seemed pretty fun all in all, but it also came with a hefty $50/person price tag. While we could have easily, and politely, declined, we were the ONLY friends from the DC area that were left on the list who hadn't bailed. So we RSVP'd w/ a yes, and we started working our frugal magic!

We convinced a friend who lived in the city to let us crash there, even though he would be out of town that night. So that saved us a good $100-$150 from the start! We then decided to just drive the 3 hours up there that night, crash, and then scurry outta there the next morning before any temptation to stay and play came about. Not bad, right?

Had all gone as planned, the whole night woulda cost us $172. That consisted of the two $50 tickets, $40 for gas, $22 for parking, $10 for some pre-party beverages, and zero for the "hotel". Annoying, but do-able. Well, as you have already gathered from my bitterness, it didn't go as plan and we ended up with a $295 bill instead. BOOOOOOO.

Once we got there, here's how the night played out:

• We down our pre-party beverages to get a head start on the night (it's the cheapest way to go!), and walk out into a sea of cabs - Awesome!
• We cab it 3 miles to the downtown D&B, tip the cabby $4 bucks on a $6 ride (I was in a good mood..probably from the drinks!), and got out.
• We walk in and there's a $5 cover JUST TO GET IN! No way jose, we explained we were w/ a party here, and they said we could just go ahead w/ out paying. nice.
• We walk in, can't find the bowling alley, and ask someone to direct us. this is where it gets bad...
• She states, "Oh, there's no bowling alley here. You must be thinking of the D&B outside of town". Come again? there's more than 1 D&B around here? Uh-oh, the fear sinks in, especially considering we're already 20 mins late...
• Turns out the D&B we needed was a good 15 miles away!!! So after blowing $10 on the original cab ride, we now have to grab another and go even further out!
• We flag down another, jump in, and the cabbie explains it'll be around $45 EACH WAY. Now, we had two options here: Continue on our un-merry way, or go back to our friend's place, pick up the car, and drive there our selves. Logic told us to go the latter route, but momentum was telling us to keep going. so we did :( it was a quick decision to make, and since we already had 2 drinks a piece inside us, was it really worth the risk of driving?
• It cost us $48, including tip, to get there.
• Then, because we were pretty pissed, we spent another $15 on drinks while there to help get us in the spirit of things. Luckily, we're both pretty good at keeping it inside ;)
• We bowl a bit, eat some food, talk some talk, and 2 hours later leave.
• It cost us $50, including tip, on the way back.

When it comes down to it all, we just didn't do our homework. We were so focused on cutting costs the whole time, that we didn't even think to google map the address! One simple mistake that cost us $113 dollars. On the plus side, at least we were able to celebrate with the happy couple. Let's just hope they *remember* us being there! haha...

PS: And that's an actual picture from the night too. At least we have that!

Labels: blown money, cockamamy indeed, rant

Every now and then Mr. Sexy (my alter-ego) comes out and forgets to bring along Mr. Frugal. Either that, or Mr. Frugal enjoys taking a day off...which is more likely the case here.

I know this because all budgeting ideals flew out the window yesterday. It started out first thing in the morning on my routine walk to Starbucks. Before you say that's mistake number 1, I have to divulge a little secret - we get unlimited free starbucks @ work! Spoiled, i may be, but when i had forgotten our company card and had to pay for this addiction myself, i was rudely awakened.

My crisp $5 bill quickly turned into chump change. How could my Hazelnutt Latte cost over $4? I could have sworn that it was $2.70 the last time i checked... It was at that point that i realized Mr. Frugal was not along with me, because any other day i woulda been like "Oh hell no" and just skipped the day's crack.

So before i even got to work, i already blew $4.08! The morning goes by fine, until my stomach reminds me to put something else into it. The craving for buffalo styled chicken tenders kicked in, so i made my way over to Fuddruckers. I placed the order, and was then asked to pay $8.79 for it!!! Again, Mr. Sexy urged me to pay it and to, "just forget about it". So for 9 bucks i got 4 tenders and a few fries... not even a drink, what the hell?

I start eating at my desk, and I'm reminded that I need to order a gift for someone. I find the site, go through the online checkout, and am about to hit the "order now" button where i see the insane shipping cost of $8.75! I was expecting at the MOST to spend $4.00 on it. F'ers. I know for a fact i could easily search around and get it cheaper w/out the high shipping costs, but i give in and order it.

Pushing these events to the back of my mind for a 3rd time, I carried on. The day ended, and i made my way to the train station, where i came across the food court and locked eyes w/ a basket of bananas. Remembering that Mrs. Budgetsaresexy likes them as well, and i was about to meet her, i picked up two. Can you believe those little bastards were 85¢ a piece!!!! The nerve! haha... Again, i could have easily walked away but what the heck, the day was already doomed.

So, for a day that i halfway considered making a "no spend day" when i woke up, I ended up throwing away $20 without a thought. I know this is not a huge amount by any means, but it's scary to think that I could easily blow this every day if Mr. Frugal doesn't come back :( that would be over $500 a month! *shiver*

Labels: blown money, Mr. Sexy vs Mr. Frugal