12 New 'Necessities' That Drain Your Cash

Yahoo lists 12 new 'necessities' that drain your cash and the annual savings you'd realize by dropping them. Their list:

Daily Latte: Brew your own and save $25 a week, or $1,300 a year.

Cable TV: Dropping premium channels should save you about $25 to $30 a month, or $300 to $360 a year. If you're more ambitious, you can save a bundle by dropping premium and basic service. Basic service often runs about $30 to $35 a month, or $360 to $420 a year. So if you drop cable entirely, you'll save $55 to $65 a month, or $660 to $780 annually.

Manicure/Pedicure: If you only skipped one of each per month, you would save $50 to $110 a month, or $600 to $1,200 a year. Just doing your own weekly manicure will save you $520 to $1,300 annually.

Botox: Let nature take its course and save $1,200 to $4,800 a year.

Bottled Water: Drink tap water and pocket the $25 to $40 monthly fee for bottled water delivery, based on online averages.

Second Car: "We save at least $1,000 a month," she estimates.

Cell Phone: You can save $40 to $60 per month on average, or $480 to $720 per year, for every cell phone you eliminate. A prepaid plan used sparingly will save you money over a contract plan.

Lawn Service: The average cost for weekly mowing, hedge trimming and leaf blowing is $65 to $90. It's hardly a savings to shell out $260 to $360 a month, is it? Mow your own and save the dough. If you do enough lawn and garden work, you may even save the $35 to $40 you shell out each month for your fitness club membership.

Clothes: "I think most Americans could easily go for one year without buying any new clothes," Yeager says.

Private School: Go public and save anywhere from $8,000 to $35,000 per year, according to the Boarding School Review Web site.

Childhood Parties: "And they celebrate graduations, from preschool, for kindergarten, for elementary, junior high," she says. "When they get to be teens, the whole group has to go somewhere. By the time you graduate high school, now you go to Aruba."

Pet Grooming/Walking: The cost of grooming your dog averages $30 to $50 for small breeds, $50 to $70 for midsize breeds and $70 to $90 for large breeds. A pet walker on average runs $15 to $27 per walk. To save money, invest in a $25 set of electric clippers and learn online about how to groom your pet. You'll pay for the razor with the first haircut.

It's an interesting list to say the least and you can save a ton of money simply by avoiding some (most? all?) of these.

Here's where I stand on each of them:

• Daily Latte: I don't drink coffee except maybe once or twice a year on a special occasion. And I consider it more of a dessert than a drink since they put so much chocolate, flavors, etc. in the drinks now. Even whipped cream!!!

• Cable TV: Just rabbit ears for us. Yeah, we only get the local channels plus PBS, but we don't really need any more than that.

• Manicure/Pedicure: Nope. Interesting story though, we once counseled a couple who was going several hundred dollars into the hole each month. One of their weekly expenses was $90 for the wife's manicure and pedicure. We must have spent half an hour trying to convince her that these weren't necessities, but she just didn't get it. I thought I was going to blow a blood vessel on that one!!!! ;-)

• Botox: Since when is this a necessity?

• Bottled Water: We drink (filtered) tap water.

• Second Car: Guilty on this one. But we don't have mass transportation to my work and my wife an I go separate ways during the week. What's the alternative? For us it's a matter of convenience and practicality. And since we don't do most of these others, we have room to spend on this one. ;-)

• Cell Phone: My work pays for my cell phone and my wife/kids don't have one. We've talked about it, but the use of one doesn't really justify the cost.

• Lawn Service: We do it ourselves (and I actually enjoy it.)

• Clothes: I'm actually trying this -- seeing how few clothes I can buy this year. I love t-shirts (I wear them all the time) and they are my one downfall. Trying to have restraint in 2008.

• Private School: I think this is the same group getting Botox. Not for us.

• Childhood Parties: So far, our kids haven't wanted birthday parties, but my daughter is talking about one this year. But we certainly won't hire clowns, a baby elephant, a bouncy room, or anything of the like.

• Pet Grooming/Walking: I actually think this could be a great business. Lots of easy money here!!!

As you can see, we don't participate much in these "necessities" since, to us, they aren't really necessities.

How about you? Which ones must you have and which ones can you do without?

Comments

[MInTheGap]

* Daily Latte: Daily Soda? I may cut back after this last 12 pack but only because I want to lose the weight.

* Cable TV: Lowest level, though we've done rabbit ears. Can't get PBS that clearly without.

* Manicure/Pedicure: Nope.

* Botox: Nope.

* Bottled Water: By the 1 gallon jug.

* Second Car: Nope. Carpool to work.

* Cell Phone: TracFone. That way we can control the minutes and usually only for emergencies.

* Lawn Service: Nope.

* Clothes: We've probably gone too long without new stuff.

* Private School: Home school.

* Childhood Parties: Do balloons, a cake, and presents count? If not, then nope.

* Pet Grooming/Walking: No pets.

[Traciatim]

Latte: I drink tea, I brew it at home before I go to work. Once or twice a week I'll get a second one at a coffee shop for $1.54, making maybe 150 bucks a year. . . nothing major to care about.

Cable TV: Just rabbit ears here too . . . it's really changed our lives for the better, I wish more people would do this. We still have Internet, a Wii, Movies, etc . . .

Mani/Pedi: My S.O. is an Aesthetician so I have to disagree.... EVERYONE needs a manicure AND a pedicure once a month at the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM . . . come on, fund my retirement.

All the rest don't really apply. For our kids parties and things we have friends over on the back deck and have a BBQ or potluck. We celebrate things with a cake of the significant person's choice, so usually around 8-20 bucks depending on the choice. Kids birthdays and Christmas we go a little overboard in my book, but when I see other people I realize we're fairly modest here too.

[Kevin]

Good ideas, but none really apply to me. I drink coffee, but usually not more than twice a week so it's not a huge expense.

We do have satellite TV - but I love watching hockey too much so it would take a lot to cancel. Other than that I could probably go without it.

Manicure/pedicure - my wife has had maybe one since we met 5 years ago.

Botox - yeah right

Bottled water - drink filtered tap

Second car - guilty for the same reasons as FMF - during the week my wife and I go separate ways. We carpool to work when our schedules allow it. I'd love to ditch one car and use public transit to get to work, but it would take me about 1 1/2 hours according to the trip planner our bus system has on their website. To me it's worth driving to have that extra time with the family.

Cell phone - I've looked into different options, but our current plan is best and since we don't have a landline it is really the only way to get in touch with us.

Lawn care - DIY. We have a small yard so it takes me about 15-20 minutes each time. And it gets me outside.

Clothes - I don't buy too many except to replace work clothes as needed. Same with the wife although while she was pregnant this cost went up.

Private school - N/A our son is only 10 months old and we get free daycare at my wife's preschool

Parties - we're having a 1st b-day this summer at a park - $40 rental and will serve fried chicken or BBQ and have relatives bring all the sides. Probably $100-150 total cost which doesn't seem to bad to me.

Pet grooming/walking - never taken either dog to the groomer. I wash/brush our dogs when I can and walk them myself.

[Rod Ferguson]

Good one. Here's mine:

Daily Latte: I make my own coffee. Once in a great while (2-3 times a year) I'll splurge on some exotic non-coffee drink like a chai tea latte or somthing like that (I don't count splurges on vacation in this calculation - it's vacation after all.)

Cable TV: I could live with basic cable, but my wife loves her premium channels and on demand movies, so we're guilty here. Although, we're in agreement that those are the first to go in the event of a need to reduce the overhead.

Manicure/Pedicure: We self-groom.

Botox: We, as the article states, let nature take it's course. My wife has even stopped dying her hair.

Bottled Water: Water out of the tap is just fine. We do use a lot of bottled water when we camp, and I usually have a bottle or two in the car for emergencies.

Second Car: We have two cars, but only one car payment, for the same reasons you do FMF.

Cell Phone: Work pays for mine, she has hers but we have a pretty cheap plan for her.

Lawn Service: Guilty. Never had one before, but last year both of us just got too tired of lawn maintenance (I tend to work more often than not over the weekend, so the lawn would get unruly.) At this point, I'd give up cable before the lawn service.

Clothes: We buy when we need them, not because we want "new clothes".

Private School: Not applicable - no kids.

Childhood Parties: See above.

Pet Grooming/Walking: We walk and groom our dog ourselves.

In the end, none of these are necessities to us (at least in the sense that I'd not pay the power bill in order to pay the guy to mow my lawn instead). But, we'd give certain things up over others.

[Rod Ferguson]

A note on carpooling: I carpool, but we rotate cars. That way no money changes hands and everyone can count on a break from driving (and spread the wear and tear around to everyone's vehicles).

[Tao Kuei]

I agree, most really aren't necessities. I just count my cell as a necessity, but at that, in these days of cameras that do everything but act as a portable stove, I just have a basic Nokia 1100 that calls and messages.

Inexpensive to replace, and I can leave it at a bar, use the ablutions, come back and still find it there.

[indio]

I invested in one of those bouncing castle and bought it at an end of season sale for $90. Most of them are $250 and up. I've gotten more than my money's worth out of it. I set it up for parties and after school, and it keeps the kids busy for hours.
For the most part, I do my own yardwork too. It's getting harder to keep up with all of the weeding as it gets closer to July. I get 15yds of free mulch from the guy that does tree trimming. He usually has to pay to get rid of his wood chips at the dump but I get them for free with just a phone call.

[David]

Cable is my biggest weakness. We do the whole works: HDTV, DVR, premium package. Belive me, I know how much I could save if I scaled back but I just can't bring myself to do it. Luckily we are financially secure enough where it's not hurting us. Still, I'm hoping someday I can gain the strength to say goodbye to cable. I have a long way to go.

[JEM]

Daily Latte: Don't drink coffee. I mostly drink water.

Cable TV: We don't have cable, we don't have time to watch TV anyway.

Manicure/Pedicure: I give myself mani/pedi's for free!

Botox: WTF? Um no.

Bottled Water: I drink bottled water free at work and have filter water at home.

Second Car: We have to have two cars. My DH and I work in separate directions at separate times. It is a must. But both cars get more than 30 MPG.

Cell Phone: We don't have a home phone, so we both have cell's instead. We only pay about 75 buck a month for both though and never go over our minutes.

Clothes: I am the queen of sales. I do buy clothes every few months but only deeply discounted clothes. We don't spend much at all to get a lot of beautiful clothes. For instance I spent 80 dollars at a Macy's sale the other day and I got 7 tops and 2 pairs of pants on the 70% off rack. These are Wal-Mart prices for high quality clothes that last me years. Beside I need to look professional for my job. My hubby lives in jeans and t-shirts since his uniform is county issued for work.

Private School: No children yet.

Childhood Parties: No children yet.

Pet Grooming/Walking: No pets.

[Kevin]

I'm with you David, just got the HDTV last year, HD DVR through DirecTV and am loving watching hockey in HD. But seeing that $65 charge on my credit card every month is starting to weigh on me. Maybe after my current contract is up I'll revisit.

[Financial Goal]

I guess you could also call having Cable or DSL internet service at home one of the new "essentials" as well. It is not something you need but you can't live without.

[Anitra]

Latte: definitely a luxury, and in the past year, I've cut down to about twice a month (from twice a week).

Cable TV: borderline necessity. It is necessary to my sanity to NOT have DH listen to Red Sox games on the radio. I'm more than willing to pay $15/month for that privilege AND the luxury of the half-dozen TV shows we regularly watch (almost all of them aren't on the big networks anyway).

Mani/Pedi & Botox: totally a luxury, and one I've never seen the need for.

Bottled water: I buy it rarely, usually as a result of poor planning and not wanting to consume more soda/juice/sweeteners. Not a luxury when you're dehydrated and don't have a container handy (I'm not going to try to drink out of a sink without a cup or bottle to fill).

Second car: currently a (borderline) necessity - DH and I work in opposite directions; no one wants to carpool with me, and he can only carpool 1-2 days/week. If I become a SAHM, the second car will become a luxury (good thing, too, because our second car is on its last legs).

Cell phone: necessity. We're on the cheapest available "family plan" and wouldn't save much (if anything) by switching to a landline.

Lawn service: Hah! If we fall behind on the yard work, that's what neighborhood teenagers are for ;)

Clothes: my husband pretty much limits his clothes shopping to replacing worn-out/stained/ripped clothes, and pregnancy has shown me how little i can get by with.

Private school: Not an issue for us yet, but definitely a luxury. I went to private school as a kid, and was aware from an early age that it was one of many choices my parents made to ensure I got a good education. Couldn't really tell you if it was worth what they paid or not.

Childhood parties: also not an issue yet (kid #1 isn't even here yet!) I doubt we'll spend much, though. We currently throw one big party a year (BBQ in our backyard), and it has never cost us more than $300 - and that's for 50+ people!

Pet grooming/walking: If I could pay someone to get my cats to stop shedding on EVERYTHING, I'd do it. But the only solutions seem to be either: a) shave them, or b) brush them multiple times every day. I'm not willing to do either one, and so we live with the cat hair now. I do clip their claws myself, which many of my cat-owning friends pay their vets to do.

[Foobarista]

o No latte. We keep a large container of cold tea and cold water in the fridge. My one sin is a Diet Coke in the morning...

o We have basic digital cable. I like to watch it while working out, and love the History Channel and Discovery Channel. (And I rarely watch anything on networks.)

o Manicure/pedicure. Er, no. And my wife cuts my hair, and gets a once-per-year perm when we go to China.

o Bottled water. Sort-of; we buy the $0.20/gal water out of the vending machine at the store into our own water bottle. Tap water in my area is awful and I hate messing with filters after bad experiences with them in other places. (And I hate those guilt-tripping Brita ads...)

o Second car - theoretically possible, but unlikely; my wife is a self-employed business broker, so she needs a car, but I could theoretically do without since I telecommute 60%. But the train station is several miles from my office when I do go in, so I can't quite do it unless I wanted to add 45 minutes to my commute to deal with the extra bus ride. Also, our cars are old, paid-for, and have liability-only coverage...

o Cellphone: my wife needs it for her business. We have a family plan; I use the cellphone minimally, but if I use it, it's an emergency - and only adds about $10/month to her plan.

o Lawn service: $37.50 each visit, once every two weeks. I hate yard work and we don't have any place to store yard equipment, so I'll keep that, thank you very much...

o Clothes: we're pretty cheap in this area; telecommuting helps for me and my wife is a bargain hunter.

o The last three: no kids, no pets.

[Thomas]

Latte: down from 15/mo. to 2/mo.
TV: no TV. Not just no cable. Yeah, I'm one of those smug people like in the Apple ads.
Manicure/Pedicure. We do misplace a nail clipper every ~3 years or so.
Botox. Just for the pets.
Bottled water. As above.
Second car. Guilty. #1 '94 40 mpg #2 '97 36 mpg. Paid cash for used, minimum insurance.
Cell phone. A pair, but no land line.
Lawn service. Yours truly.
Clothes. $30-$40/year.
School/child parties. None. Oh, actually, the pets need these. Expensive ones. Often. You can't have too many birthdays, I always say.
Pet grooming. Self-grooming, I just pick up the hairballs.

[Jane]

1. Latte as a treat 1-2 a month in the same way more or less as Dairy Queen. I do drink homemade coffee as well.

2. Cable just have Basic that is packaged with my landline and internet.

3. Mani/Pedi got one once was not too impressed

4. Botox: bacteria being injected into my face by choice no thanks.

5. Bottled water only when I'm away from home and find myself really thirsty.

6. 2nd Car 1 person/1 car

7. Cell phone yup but lowest plan

8. Lawn service yup but that may go once I settle into my new house and new routine as it's only $55 a visit once ever two weeks it may take a long time to go.

9. Clothes I mainly buy clothes specifically for work on an as needed basis.

10-11 No Kids no worries.

12. I pay a pet sitter when I'm away.

[BenG]

FMF -

Its easy for you to be high and mighty on private schools, seeing as you live in the greater Grand Rapids area. Public schools are EXCELLENT in that area. Try living in a part of the country that has terrible public schools and then tell me what you think of private schooling.

I'm speaking from personal experience, having gone to public schools in Grand Rapids and my present location. The major difference - teachers actually care in GR.

[Nicole]

I have cut out most of these, or they never applied in the first place

Daily Latte: I used to do this - now I make my own before work, or I drink the free office coffee

Cable TV: I went to basic cable a year ago and don't miss the premiums. But I still keep my DVR - with my work hours, if I didn't have DVR there would be nothing to watch (which would probably be a good thing)

Manicure/Pedicure: i get these maybe three times a year

Botox: good grief - no

Bottled Water: I never buy it unless i am completely desperate, dying of thirst, and there are no other options (this is rare).

Second Car: As a Manhattan-dweller, I don't even have a first car

Cell Phone: Can't give it up - it's my only phone

Lawn Service: no lawn - no lawn service

Clothes: My resolution this year was not to buy any clothes or shoes for the entire year. Month 6 and counting.

Private School: No kids, no school fees

Childhood Parties: See above

Pet Grooming/Walking: I brush the cat once or twice a week - she does not need to be walked :)

[NW Limited]

This list might be more like what's wrong with today's society that these are considered by ANYONE to be true necessities.
Some of them MAY be, but that is quite subjective.
Latte?
Botox?
Lawn Service?
Manicure?
Private School?
Cable TV at all!?!?
Bahhh...humbug!

[sbruce45]

I've got to agree with you on all of these, but we did have to drop the rabbit ears due to poor reception. Some local channels were hard to get. But we went with limited basic cable, which gave us great reception, a few extra channels, and is only about $11 a month. And for a cell phone, we finally got one and went with one pre-paid phone, that runs about $5 a month, so that we have it for emergencies and occasional non-emergencies (like, we're tied up in traffic) when out of the house.

[Private Boys School]

Private Boys Day Schoolsday school of boys are quite comfortable because boys get the chance to spend some time with their parents also. Whole day they spend in the schools and in the evening they came back to their houses.

[Until Debt Do US Part]

That whole pet grooming thing is taking things a bit far. I mean we all want to have nice things but a dog is a dog is a dog and some dogs are meant to be ugly and messy. Paying someone to walk your dog? Would that not defeat the purpose of having a dog? Pet grooming/walking sure is a luxury.

The other things on the list I largely agree with. Depending on what you work at the whole buying no clothes for a year could be achieved - once it doesn't include socks. I always have holes in my socks - does that mean I need a manicure or is that a pedicure? mmmm

Hey what about pedicures for dogs?

[Tiffany]

Latte: My favorite is a Venti, Hazelnut, Breve, Latte; I use to get 4 of these a day, until I gained so much weight that it took me almost a year to lose the weight. I now drink in moderation, so I only get them once a week. I have also switched the size to a Grande.

Cable TV: I have basic cable, more so for my children.

Manicure/Pedicure: I use to get a manicure and pedicure every week, now I only get a manicure twicw a month and a pedicure every other month. In the summer, I get a pedicure every month.

Botox: No

Bottled Water: It is the only way that I will drink water.

Second Car: Right now, my first car is still in the repair shop.

Cell Phone: I'd hate to say it, but I have 3 separate lines, plus my internet connection. Right now it is less than having a home connection.

Lawn Service: No need for that.

Cloting: I just went on a small shopping spree two weeks ago. I only bought 3 pairs of shoes that were on sale a new purse, a couple pair of jeans, a few blouses, and 3 suits for church. I GUESS?

Private School: My son goes to a surburban high school and my daughter is not ready for school yet.

Childhood Parties: For my daughter's 1st Birthday, we went all out, we spent over $2500; for her 2nd Birthday, we barely spent $50; for her 3rd Birthday, we may have a themed birthday party again. I am not 100% sure.

Pet Grooming: No Pets to worry about