Bad Daily Habits That Cost Money

**glock35ipsc** · 06-16-2008, 08:41 AM

My wife is always leaving the bathroom light on, and her closet light. Both my kids leave their lights on and leave their radios on when they are not in the room.

I keep threatening my wife that I am going to pull the solar panels and batteries off of the RV and put them on the house, and hook up her closet lights, and the kids rooms, to the batteries. Then when the batteries go dead, they are SOL! Maybe after a few times of having no lights or radios, they will start to get the hint.

We have to let the water run for a couple minutes up in our shower to let it get warm. My wife is forever turning it on, then getting on the internet for 5-10 minutes before finally getting in. I always turn it off if I see her on the computer.

I'm sure I have some that I just don't realize. I am pretty anal about saving electricity and water though (we are on a well). I get on the kids for leaving the door open too long. Keeping the blinds open in the summer heating the house up. Watering the yard at 2PM when it is 97* out. Washing dished under running water instead of a half-full sink of soap water. Etc, etc, etc....

**gamecock43** · 06-16-2008, 09:26 AM

my fiance does the same thing where he turns on shower water, then walks away and starts a project while its running to get warm. He also leaves water running while brushing his teeth.

I am guilty of stuff too-
I leave my computer on all day long cuz i jump on it 4-5x a day and hate waiting for it to reboot.

I love driving, so i never plan errands out to get them done in a cost efficient way. I just go.

i leave the TV on when im on the computer although I rarely internalize anything when i am on the computer. I block out all outside noise.

i bet theres alot more. i gotta think some on this one.

**cschin4** · 06-16-2008, 02:51 PM

Buying pop, soda, bottled water, slushies or stopping at the convenience store on the way home for a "snack", etc. Amazing how that all can add up. I refuse to buy pop anymore. You wouldn't pay $24 for a pack of pop but that is what you pay when buying it by the glass. I also try to bring water along from home but sometimes I just don't and we buy it.
I do not buy coffee anymore. I always brew my own and bring it with me. So, some savings there.

**disneysteve** · 06-16-2008, 03:26 PM

My daughter tends to leave her bedroom light on. She also insists on turning on the hall light every time she goes up the stairs, regardless of time of day or how much natural light is flooding into the hall from the bedrooms.

We do leave our computer on all day, but I can't say that drives me crazy. I can't stand having to wait for the computer to boot up every time I want to use it, and we use it far too often to start it up each time.

My daughter buys a drink at school every day. Apparently, it isn't "cool" to carry a lunch bag anymore. She has a small lunch bag that fits inside her backpack, but it isn't big enough for a drink and an icepack to keep it cold. So she spends $1 every day for a drink even though she packs the rest of her lunch from home.

As for that lunch, too much convenience packaged stuff, like single-serve portions of crackers or cookies. I, on the other hand, buy a large pack of whatever and bring a container or baggie with enough for a serving.

**DebbieL** · 06-16-2008, 03:45 PM

I am just as guilty of doing "bad" things as DH, but one thing he does that really sticks out to me is running the shower for sometimes 5-10 minutes before he gets in. He’ll brush his teeth and do other things with it running the whole time. In case you are thinking maybe he’s waiting for it to get to the right temperature/warm up let me tell you – it never takes more than maybe a second or two at most. I’ve never run it more than a couple seconds before getting in and I’ve yet to have cold water shock me.

**Daylily** · 06-16-2008, 05:10 PM

DH leaves the TV on when he exits the room. He'll even go outside and leave the TV on.

DH will not wait to do a large load of laundry. He'll do a small load just so that he can have a particular shirt washed.

DH does not plan for food when he's going to have a long day out running errands or whatever and he always ends up buying convenience food instead of taking along an apple or some other snack.

DH throws out all food and beverages even if they are just one day past the sell-by date.

**cptacek** · 06-16-2008, 08:42 PM

Whew, lots of finger pointing in this thread!

Right now I think I have lights on in 4 rooms. And I'm home alone. Shame on me. I'm lazy and don't like to mow my grass, so I pay someone to do it every week. I leave food in the refrigerator for too long and have to throw a lot of it out.

DH chews. That is money out the window. He also is guilty of keeping lights on throughout the house.

**disneysteve** · 06-17-2008, 04:27 AM

Originally posted by cptacek View Post

Whew, lots of finger pointing in this thread!

Well, the question was about things that drive you crazy. I can't think of anything that I do myself that drives me crazy. If there was, I'd stop doing it. Doesn't mean I don't do things that are wasteful. They just aren't things that bother me. Thus the finger pointing.

**rob62521** · 06-17-2008, 04:59 AM

Do any of you remember the commercial where the guy is standing by his front door and shouts, "Hey, mom! I'm air conditioning the outside!" for some a/c company? I remember getting a chuckle out of that.

Well, I think my dh thinks we need to light every room in our house; he's always leaving lights on in rooms he's not in and not going back in right away.

He said when he was growing up he loved long showers and his dad finally would shut the water off to get him out of there. :-) I don't do that, but found it amusing as well.

**PrincessPerky** · 06-17-2008, 06:19 AM

In general nothing major annoys me in the house, except cleaning up after a meal..my husband will make breakfast, butter the toast and up til fairly recently leave the butter out! if no one catches it in time, wasted butter, ugh. he is getting better with me sicing the kids on him though. (make it a rule the kids have to follow and both Daddy an I are more likely to behave!)

Now certain house guests I believe were born in barns..doors winter or summer are left open at all hours! Then there is the habit of turning a light on in a room first thing in the morning when the sun is trying to escape from behind the thick curtains...open em!

And the fan turned on with all windows locked up tight and no air on...open a window, even if it is with the fan it will do a lot more good!

Then there are the houses we visit with TVs on in every room, even though no one is watching. One on in the living room for the football game, while Dad is mowing the lawn, but it had to stay on, because he will be back on break and can't wait to turn it on. one in the den so the kids can watch while playing on their computers..except when they play on one of the million consoles while playing on the computer...one on in two other rooms because two other folk couldn't watch the same thing as the boys and dad.

**money2009** · 06-17-2008, 08:52 AM

Leaving the door open with the AC unit is on drives me nuts. My twelve year old son does this, but then again so does his mother.

Lights on in the house in empty rooms also drives me batty. This was a big one for my dad and I guess he instilled it in me because it makes me crazy.

**mom-from-missouri** · 06-17-2008, 02:18 PM

I refuse to buy paper towels, so DH buys them. I just use rags.

**Daylily** · 06-17-2008, 06:33 PM

Finger pointing continued.......

DH will hand wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

**Exile** · 06-17-2008, 09:47 PM

When DW and I were living in Southern California, I used to buy the weekday edition of the "Los Angeles Times" from the news rack and subscribe only to the Sunday edition. I suppose I could have save money by subscribing to the daily paper as well but I justified not doing so on the basis that it would arrive after I had already left for work, and I did not have time to read the news in the evening by which time it was already stale anyway.

Bad Daily Habits That Cost Money