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This is what Aussies think are the biggest wastes of money

Australian money notes
Aussies on Reddit are sharing their biggest wastes of money. Are you guilty of any of these? (Source: Getty)

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.”

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:

  1. Gambling

  2. Buying bottled water

  3. Buying cars that are too big or fancy

  4. Updating your mobile phone each year

  5. Buying things at full price

  6. Paying for multiple streaming services

  7. Personalised number plates

  8. Expensive appliances

  9. Making small orders through Uber Eats

  10. 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.

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