This is what Aussies think are the biggest wastes of money
Money and the cost of living are top of mind for many right now, and it’s forcing Aussies to take a closer look at their budgets and see where they can cut back.
One Reddit user on r/AusFinance posed the question: “What is something a lot of people buy but it is a waste of money, in your opinion?”
“What is something you can’t believe people spend money on?,” they asked.
“For me cigarettes, basically burning money.”
Also read: Bad habit costing Aussies $1,246 a year
Also read: Is it better to spend or save? The surprising answer
Also read: Wedding cash splash - how much money you should give as a gift
The question had received a whopping 2,000 responses so far, with many commentators agreeing things like gambling, buying bottled water and updating your phone every year were wastes of money.
“I don’t understand why more people don’t have a filtered jug in their fridge and a reusable water bottle,” one user wrote.
Aussies also agreed that having multiple streaming services and buying expensive clothes for kids or babies were unnecessary.
“They’re just going to grow out of them in a few months anyways,” one person wrote.
These were the top things Aussies thought were a waste of money:
Gambling
Buying bottled water
Buying cars that are too big or fancy
Updating your mobile phone each year
Buying things at full price
Paying for multiple streaming services
Personalised number plates
Expensive appliances
Making small orders through Uber Eats
Utes with the half-size tray
Spending climbs
It comes as household spending continues to climb.
Household spending increased by 29 per cent for the year ending August 2022, new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found.
The strongest increases were seen in clothing and footwear (up 75.8 per cent), hotels, cafes and restaurants (up 64.8 per cent) and transport (up 57.8 per cent).
Spending categories that were not as impacted by lockdowns, such as food (up 2.4 per cent), and alcohol and tobacco (up 0.2 per cent), had only small rises.
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.
