Money Saving 101: The Cost of a Habit

Most of us don’t realize how much our habits are costing us. I notice a lot of people complaining about how broke they are on Facebook or just in general. Another thing I notice is how they are tan, or have perfect (fake) nails, or always have a Starbucks coffee. It made me wonder if these folks realize just how much they’re spending every month or even every year on their vices/habits.

My personal vice is Starbucks, so I’ll start with that.

A grande caramel latte cost me $4.33 yesterday.  I tend to visit my local Starbucks 3-4 times per month, so it costs me between $12.99 and $17.32 per month.  In a year, this would cost me between $155.88 and $207.84.

If you’re into tanning (I’m not), a single ten minute tan can costs $7.00 here for the lowest level bed. If you go three times per week, that’s $21 or $84 per month. Some people will say that they get the unlimited monthly plan, which is around $45 here (give or take depending on where you go, this is an average). If you go with the first instance, $84 per month, you’ll be paying $1,008 per year! That’s three car payments for me. If you go with the monthly tanning package, that’s $540 per year! That’s a car payment and four months of insurance for me. It’s worthwhile, if you’re tanning obsessed, to go with the monthly package, but still, that’s a lot of money for something you can do outside for free during the sunny months.  Not to mention the health risks associated with tanning in general, but this is a finance blog, so I’ll let that one go.

If you’re into having acrylic nails done (I’m not anymore, but I liked to get them done occasionally in college), that’s typically $35-40 to get them put on and then you’ve got to get them filled every 3-4 weeks, depending on how fast your nails grow and how long you can put up with the gap that shows when your fingernails are growing. A typical fill is around $15. Usually someone can go around three months before the nails start to yellow or crack and you need to get all new acrylics put on (another $35-40).

$35 initial investment + 4 fill ins ($15) in three months = $95 x four = $380.00 for the year

I have a feeling that this is a fairly low estimate for acrylics as some people I know get their acrylics redone more often. Also, that doesn’t include if you crack a nail and have to go get a new one put on between other fill ins and things like that. $380 is a car payment plus a month of car insurance for me.

How about pedicures? An average pedicure around here costs about $25. If you go once per month, that’s $300 per year.

How about getting your hair colored? It costs around $60 to get your hair colored at an average salon. If you go every two months, that’s $360 plus tip for the year.  If you insist on going to an upscale, or as I like to call them “fancy,” salon, that could cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of $120 every two months or $720 per year.

How about cable packages? Mine cost me $75/month when I bundled it with my internet through Comcast (for the first year, of course). That totals out to be$900/year! When Comcast decided my year was up for my bundle, I dropped the cable, but kept the internet. I really didn’t watch that much TV anyway, but dropping the cable ended up saving me $30 per month or $360 per year. The internet cost me $45 per month, but I got a lot more use out of the internet than I did out of the cable, and I could even watch TV on the internet if I really wanted to see a show. (Hulu is free and a lot of other networks stream their TV shows for free if you can wait a few days.)

I hope this gets you thinking on how much your habits cost. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go get a Starbucks or get your hair done or even go get a pedicure. Sometimes it is just hard to see how much you’re actually spending on something until you put it all down on paper. When it’s all down on paper, it’s a lot easier to budget for that habit/vice. I know my Starbucks is included under “fun money” on my budget.