5 Ways You're Wasting Money, Not Saving It

One of the most frustrating aspects of trying to save money is when you think you are saving, but in reality you're wasting money. This usually happens when you have made bad assumptions when making a purchase or you haven't analyzed the true costs of a purchase.

Here are five common ways people waste money when they actually believe they are saving it:

1. Buying gas at the least expensive gas station.

While this would seem obvious, the problem occurs when the least expensive gas station is a few miles off your regularly traveled route. If you are driving across town to save a few cents per gallon, the cost of driving to get the better price will negate any savings the cheaper gas price provides.

Solution: Choose the least expensive gas station that is no more than a mile from your regularly traveled route. You can keep informed on which gas station is selling gas at the best price at such sites as Gasbuddy or MSN Gas Prices.

2. Going to different stores to get sale items.

People often believe that they are saving money by looking at the weekly discount ads that stores send out and finding the best price for each product they need. The problem is that by driving all around town to the different stores, you waste all of that savings on the cost of operating your car.

Solution: Find the closest store that will price-match. While many stores don't advertise that they will price-match, a fair number of stores still do. You may need to ask the manager to confirm whether or not the store does. Once you have located a store that will price-match, simply buy everything there and bring in the competitor's ads to get the best price.