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The first 5 costs worth avoiding

This post was originally going to cover 10 areas where you could save money in everyday life, but after I began brainstorming, I realized that the list needed to be much much longer. And each item needed a decent explanation instead of just a sentence or two. If the list had been too long I’d be putting you Moneyseeders to sleep instead of helping to identify areas of waste that commercialism and our society have pushed on us.

Here are the first of the 5 costs worth avoiding:

1. Music — Over 1 billion digital tracks were purchased in 2012. Are you kidding me? Have these people never heard of Pandora before? If you are one of these music downloaders, please understand that you have options to save money in this category.

Here are some FREEEE alternatives where you can hear whatever song you want, whenever you want: Pandora, Spotify, Myspace (did he just say Myspace?! Yeah, it’s back, and it’s a music site now. HIGHLY recommended!!), Youtube, Grooveshark, and of course your old AM/FM receiver.

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Camelbak Groove - Costs Worth Avoiding - Johnny Moneyseed
2. Water
— Due to my occupation I’ve lived in some pretty seedy areas of the world (including parts of the US), so I can completely understand why people would prefer bottled water to tap water. Most of us are fortunate enough to have drinkable tap water, yet billions of bottles of water are sold every year.

It’s almost comical that marketers have found a way to sell us one of natures most bountiful resources, but we’re here to put an end to that. You could just suck it up and drink tap water, I do and I’m perfectly healthy.

If you’re not willing to chance it, check out one of these magic filtering Camelbak water bottles. They filter the water as you drink it, and each carbon-filter lasts about 3 months. At which point you just have to replace the filter. Total cost for the first 3 months: $25. Equivalent cost of bottled water: $192 (@$1.50 per 20 ounce bottle)

3. Gym Membership — It’s a pretty standard trend that every year millions of people head to their local gym on January 2nd to attempt to get back in shape. What most people don’t think about is that gyms are usually riddled with hidden fees. They reel you in with a nice low price like $30/month, or “$1 a day” is what the manager at L.A. Fitness told me earlier today.

Then she told me that I’d have to pay first and last months’ fees up front as well. Then she told me that aerobic classes cost extra as well. So if I planned to be a member for all of 2013, and wanted to take one aerobic class a month @ $10/class, I would be spending a total of: $545 for the entire year. [$545 is one of the lower prices, but that only covers me, what about Mrs. Moneyseed?]

Here’s all you need to have a great daily full-body workout for a one-time fee of about $50: A couple kettle bells, and the road. You can get in amazing shape through a kettle bell regimen. Couple that with running outside where fresh air is actually produced and you will realize how silly you’ve been for purchasing that gym membership.

4. Cable — Regular readers of this blog know how much of a waste of money I think cable (or dish equivalents) are. We’ve been living without cable for almost 2 months, and I can honestly say I never want to go back to it. No matter how low the monthly costs. Never.

We have subscriptions to Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and Netflix, all which stream through a magic little box into our TV. The content is just as good, if not better. Plus we don’t have to watch commercials. We share a Netflix account with my Mama Moneyseed to further cut costs. Yes, you can share your Netflix account with loved ones!

5. Baby Clothes — As a parent, I have developed a decent knowledge for prices of all things baby. Being a thrifty person, I also know that I don’t have to pay $10 for a pair of pants for a 6 month old. I love my kids to death and I want them to look like a million bucks, but I’m trying to retire early, not win Toddlers and Tiaras.

Here are a few ways to get baby clothes on the cheap:

  • Craigslist — You will always be able to find boxes of baby clothes for little to no money here.
  • Thrift stores/Good Will – We purchase the bulk of our kids’ clothes at these types of stores. An entire bag of clothes for $20? All of which look brand new?? Some that even still have tags on them??? Don’t count out thrift stores!
  • Friends – People with kids are usually friends with people with kids. Ask them for their old baby clothes, or if the roles are reversed, hook them up your old baby clothes!

What “standard” things have you gotten rid of because you realized that they were a waste of money?

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And, if you’re looking to save money with an investment account with lower fees, and extreme ease of use, try Betterment. More information about Betterment is available here.

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