FINANCE: Unnecessary Expenses You Should Try To Avoid

Experts say there are certain expenditure that ought not to have a place in your budget. SIMON EJEMBI writes on some of them.

expenses

On a daily basis people spend money on things ranging from feeding and transport to phone calls. Experts say while some of the expenditure are out of your control, several can be reduced to save costs, while others can be avoided altogether.

Some costs such as school fees and taxes cannot be avoided by parents and adults, but some others such as subscription fees or illegal parking fines can be avoided. Financial experts say by avoiding such expenses you can free up money and boost your savings.

Some of the costs you should try to avoid are discussed below.

Airline fees

Many air travelers regularly pay such fees as excess baggage fees or even checked baggage fees. But experts say many of them do so needlessly. They explain that many of the people that end up at the airport with excess baggage do so because they failed to prepare properly or read about baggage limits. As a result they end up paying for items they could have left behind had they paid more attention to guidelines. This amounts to money that could have been put to better use going to ‘waste’. For instance, some airlines allow passengers to carry up to 40 kilogramme of baggage without paying and charge N500 per kg of excess baggage. This means that if you carry 10kg of excess baggage that would cost you N5, 000.

To avoid such expenditure, it is advised that you pack lightly if possible when travelling by air. For a short trip, if it is possible, take only carry-on baggage. And ensure that you know the weight limitations of the airline you are travelling with.

Power supply re-connection fee

Some people end up paying electricity re-connection fee almost every month or every time officials of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria comes to disconnect subscribers who have defaulted in paying their bills. At the moment, the re-connection fee is N2, 000. If you have to pay that every two months that means in a year, you are spending N12, 000 that would have gone into paying your electricity bill instead. So, if you are yet to get a prepaid meter, it is advised that you avoid this cost and instead ensure that you try to pay your bills promptly. Even if you just moved into a house, with a rather high outstanding bill, you could try to work out an arrangement with the management of the PHCN office in your area instead of waiting until you are disconnected as that would mean you will have to pay N2,000 for ‘nothing’.

Traffic tickets

This is one area where many car owners can end up accruing a lot of costs. By parking illegal, dropping people off at the wrong spots, failing to wear your seat belts, driving without a license or number plate, etc., you will have to part with a huge amount of cash once you get caught by officers and men of the Federal Road Safety Corps or any of the traffic management agencies state governments are establishing now. In Lagos State, for instance, there is the Lagos Traffic Management Agency and for each offence you commit, there is a fine attached. Some car owners have paid up to N50, 000 in fines over time. For someone trying to become financially independent and to have a bigger savings account, you can do without such fees.

So, whether you are in a hurry or not, do not violate traffic laws; doing that makes you incur costs you don’t need.

While you can avoid traffic fines, it is not possible to avoid parking fees. However, experts advise that it is important that you avoid paying very expensive parking fees, especially when there are free parking spaces around. Also, you can avoid excessive parking fees by shopping or eating at places where they are free parking spaces.

Bank charges

It is true that banks no longer charge you N100 for using your automated teller machine card on their ATM even though you do not bank with them. But there are other charges you could avoid. If you use your ATM card to withdraw money frequently then you will have to part with anything from N500 upwards every month for SMS alerts.

If you engage in online banking and you regularly transfer funds then you are bound to pay more as some banks charge up to N100 or more for each transaction.

To ensure that these fees do not affect your savings, you need to pay more attention to what you are being charged and to make adjustments where necessary.

By ensuring you have a budget for every day, you will have a clue about your cash requirements and in the absence of emergencies you won’t find yourself looking for and ATM many times in one day.

It is also important to have details about how much your bank charges for its services.

Subscriptions costs

Experts advise people to regulate their subscription costs by review them from time to time. This, they say, is because over time some subscriptions that where once useful to you will become irrelevant. Consequently, it would be unwise to keep subscribing for them. That will amount to wastage of funds. So, if you have subscribed for a special package from you GSM service provider or to a professional magazine which you no longer use, ensure you cancel the subscription and stop payments.

The same thing goes for cable subscription. Experts say if you hardly spend any time at home then you should subscribe for just a few relevant channels instead of bearing the costs of the entire available channels.

Late payments

When it comes to tuition or fees for seminars and workshops, it is common to observe that a higher amount is marked out as fees for late registration. Similarly, when you default on the repayment of a loan or payment for a lease purchase, you are likely to be asked to pay higher interest rates. Experts say the extra charges you incur for late payments also fall into the category of costs you should avoid. To do that, they advise that you should try to be more organised and to pay your bills on time.

Missed discounts

Experts say some people do not know how to negotiate, they fail to carry out any form of research about companies providing or selling the product they want. Consequently, they miss opportunities to negotiate prices or to buy goods at discounts; once they are told the asking price and they have the money, they pay.

According to experts, people should strive to avoid such purchases. They stress that buying items at a higher price when there are being offered at discounts amounts to financial recklessness on the part of the buyer.

Delivery fees

With several online companies now offering services in Nigeria and as companies intensify their battle for customers, some of them now offer delivery services. They tell you that you can buy their products and have them delivered to you, at a small price. But some of them offer free delivery services. Those are the ones experts say you are better off patronizing  They say that while companies give the impression that they are only charging a token for delivery, many of them make profits on that as well. According to them, there is the need for buyers to be vigilant and to opt for free delivery instead of paying for the service.