4 Ways I've Excelled at Wasting My Money This Year

One of the things I like about being a personal finance writer is that I get an opportunity to actually help people. I've had friends come to me and say they've read my articles, took my advice, and were able to save money because of it. And that, frankly, makes me feel awesome. 

What makes me feel less awesome, however, is the fact that I routinely find myself falling into the trap of wasting money on kid-related purchases. Here are a few things I've basically thrown my money out on so far this year -- and it's only July.

1. Nicer restaurant meals

Now that my kids are getting a bit older, my husband and I have been eager to expand our eating out options beyond the local diner. And so on occasion, we've taken our kids to nicer restaurants. Big mistake. When you go to a nicer place for dinner, you end up spending even more money on a meal your child will ultimately reject due to pickiness. 

Not so long ago, we went out for Italian food and proceeded to spend $14 on pasta and butter that probably would've cost us $0.50 to make at home. It's hard enough spending that kind of money on a basic entree your child actually consumes. It's another thing to force yourself to eat their rejected leftovers the next day because they cost so darn much you can't bear to toss them out.

2. School fundraisers

When you have school-aged kids, you're going to be asked to participate in fundraisers. This is basically a given. But whereas some parents have the patience to go out and get people to buy stuff to fund school programs, I don't. 

Not only do I lack the patience, but I also lack the time. So what inevitably happens is that I'll buy something like a $50 box of chocolate bars I'm supposed to sell, only instead of doing that, I'll keep them at home and eat them myself because I can't bring myself to knock on doors asking people to buy candy for $1 a pop. The result? Wasted money. 

And yes, you can argue that I'm doing a nice thing for the school. But the more cost-effective thing would be to make a $20 donation (or whatever the school's cut of the fundraiser is) and call it a day.

3. Extra school supplies

I do not enjoy shopping in stores, which is why I'm happy to bear a $139 annual credit card charge for an Amazon Prime membership. But when you have kids, sometimes, they need school supplies in a pinch -- as in, right now. And at that point, free two-day shipping won't bail you out.

What I'll commonly do is buy extra supplies when I'm at the dollar store or Target to save myself a return emergency trip. What commonly happens, though, is that I'll buy the wrong supplies, or I'll buy supplies that end up getting lost between when I bring them home and when they're actually needed. Fail. 

4. Dress clothing for my kids

We've had some nicer occasions to attend this year, like communion parties for my kids' friends and some festive family gatherings. To avoid showing up looking like a gaggle of slobs, I decided to purchase my kids some nicer clothing for these events. Since most of their clothing is markedly unfancy (and, if I'm being honest, ripped), I figured it was worth the investment. 

Big oops. Every time I presented a nicer outfit to my kids, they either refused to wear it by virtue of it being "uncomfortable" (because cotton is just oh so hard on the skin) or agreed to wear it, but destroyed it after about an hour. 

Now, I can make my peace with a $4 t-shirt getting battered the first day it goes on my child's body. But seeing my son spill soda down the front of a brand-new $25 dress shirt wasn't so fun. Neither was seeing my daughter rip her brand-new $30 dress by being impatient and removing it before it was fully unzipped. 

A fate I'm resigned to

All told, I pride myself on being someone who spends money carefully. But thanks to my kids, I've managed to effectively toss away a few hundred dollars this year already. 

One thing I am good at is not wasting money on food at the grocery store. I tend to have a pretty solid handle on what we need and will step up and cook when there are items in my fridge at risk of going bad. Seeing as how 70% of Americans routinely waste money by tossing expired food, I guess I'm ahead of the game in that sense. But I'd still like to do better overall.

Now, I could tell myself that since 2023 is only half over, there's ample opportunity to improve during the remaining half of the year. What's more likely is that I'll continue to find ways to throw out money, inspired by my kids and their antics and demands. So it goes.