10 Things You Should Stop Spending Money On, According to Experts

It’s easy to lose track of where your money goes. One small purchase here, a subscription you forgot about there. But over time, those little expenses can add up to a big dent in your wallet. According to financial experts, there are a handful of everyday things many of us keep spending on without thinking twice, and they’re not always worth it. If you’re looking to cut back or just be a little smarter with your spending, here are 10 things you might want to reconsider.

We’re not just talking about fancy meals! Andrew Herzog, a financial planner with the Watchman Group, told Market Watch in 2024 that takeout and fast food soon mounts up! Living expenses have all dramatically increased, “so it makes sense that eating out should get cut first,” he said. “And I applaud that.”

According to Lindsey Crossmier, a researcher of MarketWatch Guides, “Nowadays, almost everything has subscriptions - streaming services, music, the gym or even coffee orders.” She told Huffpost in 2025 that’s when “subscription creep” sets in, and it can quickly cost hundreds of dollars if it goes unchecked.

Buying a car isn't a waste of money - it’s more a case of how much you pay. “The cars that people buy are a waste of money,” real estate investor Grant Cordone informed GOBankingRates in 2023. “Yeah you need a car, but you don’t have to have a Range Rover.”

Cordone says you don’t need to spend excessively on clothes, either. “You do not need a Gucci belt,” he elaborated. “What I would do is I would go buy a Boss belt for $49 on sale.” It only needs to hold your pants up, not pull your bank account down!

It might not seem like a big deal if you leave the light on when you walk out a room, but energy expert Martin Desmond revealed that wastage soon mounts up. In 2024 he revealed to the Irish Sun, “Lowering the thermostat by one degree can cut heating bills by 10%.”

It feels good having the newest devices, but having money in your bank feels better! There’s less reason to spend on expensive gadget upgrades now, a 2023 article in The Guardian informed. "The days of the rapid advancements in technology that drove constant improvements in consumer technology are gone.”

Betting can quickly drain your money away, as GambleAware aknowledges. In a 2024 article with the Guardian, it recommends: "Treat gambling as an expense... think of it like buying a cinema ticket - you're paying a fixed price for the entertainment, not trying to win a profit."

If you ask MoneyCrashers.com founder Andrew Schrage how to save money, he’ll point you away from extended warranties. In 2025 he told Business Insider, "The only instance I'd recommend a warranty is in the case of a laptop. Otherwise, the warranties themselves can often cost as much as simply buying a used or new replacement for your item, or repairing it."

Much of the time you’re paying extra for a name when it comes to branded products, as Forbes revealed in 2023. What’s more, own-label brands are often made by the same branded companies! CNET studies on several brands found that “Name brands' private-label equivalents cost 40% less on average.”

Schrage told MoneyCrashers.com how you can avoid insidious bank fees. "Consider going with a credit union,” he said, “which are better than banks in many ways, to avoid some of these fees.”