My Top 10 Non-Frugal Habits...

...I'm sure we all have them. However, over the weekend I was thinking about them, any why I contiunue to carry them with me, even though I feel as though I live a fairly frugal life. These are in no particular order:

1. Losing Money
2. Watching movies in the theatres
3. Not recycling
4. Buying small amounts of food/drink/etc 'on the go'
5. Not sticking to a plan
6. Being messy- Losing things and buying replacements before I look hard enough to ensure that I can't find the original
7. Being brand-loyal and not checking out the competition
8. Not cutting up/getting rid of old accounts/credit cards
9. Buying books as opposed to borrowing
10. Buying things 'for the future'

1. Losing money
Yes, losing as in putting it somewhere and forgetting. I'm horrible for this, especially with change. Until recently when I quit my last job, I collected American cash and change from the register. I would put it in a pocket or in a purse and upon comming home, dump it wherever convinient in my room. (I still live at home, therefore only have a room as 'my' space). However, this space would change constantly and when I finally got around to cleaning said room, I would find change here and there - seriously all over the place. Now, the nice thing about this, is that I do find a lot of it when I clean, but I can't help wonder how much gets swept up into the garbage and/or simply lost and never found again. I now have various jars and bowls on my desk where I throw all my various change at the end of the day. I bring my purse with me to my desk so it's at a logical location.

2. Watching movies in the theatres
Okay, you might be a little bit puzzled by this one, or not. I love seeing movies in theatres. Love it love it love it. Any movie that I am even the slightest bit interessted in I will go see it in the theatre. If I really like a movie I will go see it more than once. I think the first Pirates of the Caribeean I saw 4 times. I saw the second one twice and I will probably go see the third installment again. That's a lot of money spent on movies. Additionally, when you add in pop or a popcorn (I usually...ahem....'bring' my own in since I hate paying $4 for a candy bar) it does bring the total up to around $15-20 a movie. (Our ticket prices are $10.95). I need to cut down on the number of movies I see in the theatre, as well as not seeing a movie a second time. Some of the biggest blockbusters I do enjoy seeing in the theatre, especially because the special-effects are fun to see on the big screen. Other movies don't require the detail of the big screen.

3. Not recycling
Although my family (well, really only my mother) are avid recyclers, I have a horrible habit of just 'not caring' when I get out of the house. I buy bottled pop, water, whatever, and I throw it away before I get home. Again, it's not a large deal, however, I lose out $0.05 for every bottle that I buy and then toss without taking it to a bottle depot. Again, it hasn't added up to much i'm sure, however, it's still money. I'm trying hard to drink tap water and to keep my bottles with me until I get home to put them in the bin.

4. Buying small amounts of food/drink/etc 'on the go'I've already discussed previously how I eat out too much. In the past couple of weeks I have curbed my spending habits - brining a lot of stuff from home and trying not to eat out more than twice a week. However, by getting this habit out of the way I have exposed a sub-habit: buying little bits of food here and there. I have a bad habit of buying a drink here or a chocolate bar there and other$1-2 dollar-items all over the place. I figure this adds up to about $10 or so a week and it's an expense that i'm not even thinking about it. From now on I need to start carrying a mini water-bottle (I got a good quality one on the airplane which i'll use) as well as a granola bar if I happen to get hungry.

5. Not sticking to a planI'm a nerd when it comes to planning. I make lists and bugets and to-do's and all sorts of lists, however, I never stick to it. Ever. I have all sorts of these notes all over my life - computer, walls, journals, etc. I need to either cut down on the amount of lists that I make, or ensure to make only required lists. I also need to find a budget that I will stick too. I don't enjoy writing down every little thing I purchase because it becomes tiresome and I have trouble sticking to it. I need to find an alternative to keep my money in line.

6. Being messy
This kind of goes part-in-parcel with my losing money thing. I tend to lose money because i'm messy. But I also lose a great deal of other things too - travel stuff, books, pens, clothes, socks, knick-knacks, computer stuff, etc. This creates two problems: 1) Since everything is in a pile on my floor, I tend to step on things and break them. Case-in-point: My headphones. Yup, stepped on them because they were underneath a pile of clothes which I thought was all clothes. They work, I just snapped one of the headphone-holder-on-things. They should last a little bit longer assuming I don't step on them again. Problem 2) I don't try hard enough to look for things that I've lost and end up buying them again only to find the original one and be stuck with two. I usually end up returning the purchased one, but that creates more effort and time lost, etc. Case-in-point: My european travel converter thingy. I had two, one for Great Britain and another for Western Europe. I couldn't find the one I had for western Europe, and, seeing as I was supposed to leave in less than a week just bought another one (cost: $16.00 or something rediculous like that) only to return home to have (really, a first) look around the house and find it within 10 minutes. Then, of course, had to cart the purchased one back to the store and get a refund which took time and effort. I need to develop a better organisational system for all my various stuff so at least I have an idea of where something should be. I also need to take the time to plan ahead so that I know what I am going to need and actually spend time looking for it before buying another one.

7. Being brand-loyal and not checking out the competition
I admit it - I am brand loyal. I also don't like buying no-name stuff. I don't know why. I think it's because my mother always talked as though the no-name stuff was of a poorer quality. I imagine that sometimes it is, which somethings are probably identical. However, even knowing this, I love my Advil, Dove, Goody and MAC stuff. I need to start learning about how to tell the difference in quality, rather than in the name of a product. I also need to remember that buying brand-name or no-name stuff says nothing about my financial status.

8. Not cutting up/getting rid of old accounts/credit cards
Yup, this is a bad habit. For several reasons such as 1) Wasting money, 2) Identity Theft, 3) Credit damage (not sure if that's true, but it makes sense). I currently have a Bank of Montreal Mastercard that I haven't used in easily a year. Why haven't I cancelled it you ask? Well, a couple of reasons; 1) I'm lazy, 2) I don't like high-pressure situations, and 3) I'm lazy. I hate cancelling things. I just hate it. I remember I had a BMO Savings account that took me 3 months or so of it sitting empty before I finally cancelled it. They asked so many questions that eventually I just told them that I was moving to London (England) permanently. It worked, but I hate having to resort to petty lies to get my way. Luckily this card doesn't cost me anything in terms of a yearly fee, however, having it sitting there doing nothing doesn't do me much good either. It's high-time I just cancelled it, it just takes so much to get around to it. I need to stop making excuses and just cancel it. The same goes for extra bank fees that just show up on my statement. I need to talk to them right away, rather than waiting 3 months to see if they'll go away.

9. Buying books as opposed to borrowing
I'm sure lots of people are in this same situation, otherwise large-chain bookstores wouldn't do as well as they do. I remember one blogger stating that the only reason for buying books as opposed to borrowing them is to put them on their bookshelf for the world to see, and in a way, they are right. Most of the books that i've purchased over the years i'm proud to have read and display them on my bookshelf with great pride. However, adding up the total $$ that i've spent on non-school related books (school books are a completetly different story) makes me a little sad - especially on those books that I've only read once. From now on i'm borrowing all my books from the library. If I really like one in particular once i've read it, I will go out and see if I can find a copy to keep. The books that I already own and no longer read I will gather together and take them to a used book store to see if I can get any money back for them.

10. Buying things 'for the future'
This is one of those habits that can sound good on the surface, but really ends up being a money-hole after all. I visit a lot of garage sales with my mom (Yay! I love garage sales). The only problem is, I tend to buy things 'for the future' rather than 'for right now.' I have a small collection of items that I am saving for a future kitchen such as: And old style napkin dispenser, tupperware measuring spoons and a antique syrup-dispenser and salt and pepper set. Now, those are standards, yes, I admit that. However, my personality changes over time, and with that, my tastes. Who knows in 5 years what I will want my kitchen to look like? It may be nothing like what I want it to be now. Same thing goes for buying cookbooks. I don't know who I am trying to fool - I don't cook. At least not fancy - my cooking skills rest in the pasta/quesidilla/mac&cheese genre. I don't cook fancy crap and I really should stop buying fancy cookbooks simply because I have dreams of one day cooking fabulous meals for my family. At this point in my life it just doesn't make sense at all.

Well, there you have it. My top ten non-frugal habits in all their shame. What are yours?