Here’s a great question to ask yourself – do you have room in your budget for expenses you don’t need? Because chances are that you’re spending money needlessly. It’s worse than that – you’re spending money needlessly regularly.

That’s how you build up expenses that you can do without yet somehow find a justification in your mind. If you’re willing to go on a mini trip down the needless expense lane, buckle up. We’ll be visiting five of them.  

Television

No matter how you put it, that big box that used to be the center of entertainment in homes across the country is slowly but steadily being replaced by a computer, or better yet, a smartphone. So why keep that box and the fees that go with it?

Why pay for cable or satellite when you can watch so much online for free or at a lower cost? If your cable is bundled with the broadband, don’t worry – you can use usave comparison to find a package that’s better suited to your cord-cutting needs. Do some research, find what you like, and never look back.

Smartphone Upgrades

There are certain brands of smartphones whose whole business model seems to be about releasing a slightly different model of their product every year and banking on brand loyalty for people to buy it. Occasionally they’ll throw in a real change, but for the most part, it’s nothing you couldn’t do without.

Most of the time, the smartphone you had two models ago will do just as good of a job like the one you’re looking to buy right now. So maybe this time skip the expense of getting the latest model and instead spend that money on something you need.

Landline Phone

Unless you’re of a certain age and switching to mobile-only is too big of a cultural shock for you, there’s no reason to have a landline phone anymore. They are too expensive, they aren’t that useful bar a catastrophic event that knocks out all the satellites, and they rake up additional charges quickly when you call mobile phones.

And yes, there’s indeed no such thing as a signal problem with landlines, but we’ve made significant strides in that area. Mobile coverage is much better now, making the switch to mobile-only more feasible than ever.

Books

It’s sad to see that books are going in the same bin as landline phones, but there has to be a line every item needs to cross to prove it’s worth paying more for it. With books, that line is “could I get it almost for free instead of buying it,” and because the answer is “yes”, books are an expense you can do without.

You can still read them, though, you just don’t need to buy them. Join a library. They’ll have the books you want to read, and if they see a bigger demand for books, they’ll likely buy more of them, keeping the author’s pockets lined as well. So everyone wins.

Eating Out

This is a big one. A nice meal you cook at home can be just as good – maybe even better – than a meal you’d be able to get outside. You’ll also get it for a lower price.

You don’t have to give up on eating out completely, though. Eating can be a social event and it’s fun to do it outside sometimes. But instead of making it a habit, consider saving it for special occasions.