I’m a Retirement Planner: Here Are 7 Ways Retirees Waste Money Every Month

Because retirees often have more leisure time, it can be easy to fall into leisurely spending habits, as well. While it’s natural to do so, most retirees have more of a fixed income than they did when they were working, and poor spending habits will catch up with you quickly.

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Brandon Mather , CFP and senior vice president at Wealth Enhancement Group, works with retirees to examine their finances, including expenses. He explained the ways retirees most commonly waste money , so you can look to curb these habits.

Money mistakes the super wealthy never make - that you might be doing now.

Dining Out

“Probably the most frequent way that we see retirees overspending, number one, would be eating out at restaurants,” Mather said.

It’s not just the cost of food you end up paying, but taxes and tip, which adds up over time, Mather pointed out. “So we do speak to our clients about eating at home a lot more, just getting groceries and cooking.”

Though he knows that dining out can also be a way of getting social interaction, he urged retirees to at least cut back.

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Cable and Phone Bills

Mather said it’s common to find retirees becoming used to the way that they’ve done things in the past and forgetting to look for cheaper options for things like cable and phone service.

“So if they’ve been with their cable service for years upon years, a lot of times, they’re overspending on cable services where they may not even be using all of the channels provided,” Mather said. He urged retirees to turn to cheaper entertainment apps and other things that can be more affordable than a high cable bill.

Apps and Subscriptions

Of course, for every helpful app a retiree uses, there may be many that are falling to the wayside, which they’re still paying for.

“It’s so easy to sign up for subscriptions, apps or different services that you might use once and yet have a monthly or annual fee,” Mather said. “We’ve found many times that there’s 10 to 15 different subscriptions going on behind the scenes that the retiree might not be aware of, and those unnecessary fees can add up.”

Impulse Purchases

Mather said retirees with disposable income also can be prone to impulse purchases. “They may not have the day-to-day responsibilities filling up their calendar. And they’re being bombarded by all of these media advertisements, whether through their phone, through their computer or on their TV,” Mather said.

Companies make it easy to enter your information and make one-click purchases without the effort of a second thought, much less getting into your car to go to the store.

Instead, Mather said, “We encourage clients, especially if they’ve done a great job saving and they don’t have debt, to spend on experiences. So we’ll make a separate budget for travel, whether that’s taking trips that they’ve always wanted to do or go traveling and seeing family.”

Home Improvement

Another area where it’s easy to overspend in retirement is on home improvement, particularly right after retirement, Mather said. “A lot of retirees, when they first retire, will focus on projects around the house and ways to improve their home that they haven’t been able to address during their career.”

That sort of expense really needs to be planned for, he said, as it can snowball into huge expenses.

And if they take out loans to pay for these renovations, retirees could find themselves wasting money on interest on top of their monthly payments.

Technology

Another area to look out for overspending on is technology that might go unused — and sometimes, it does seem that the next must-have gadget shows up in stores every month. Mather used his own father as an example, who often has the latest gadgets or tech but then finds them too complicated to really use.

“I know firsthand that my dad has purchased all these gadgets and different technology through Amazon, and then when it arrives at the door, he doesn’t really want to mess with it.”

Gifting Extravagantly

Lastly, while it’s wonderful to be generous to family in retirement, Mather warned against gifting extravagantly.

“One of the things we want to make [retirees] aware of is the implications of gifting, especially large sums of money to their children and grandchildren. So we definitely speak about different ways to gift so that children and grandchildren can enjoy it during their lifetime, but also do that in a very tax efficient way.”

While it’s great to spend the fruits of your many years of labor in retirement, be sure to do it mindfully, keeping track of your income and expenses so you don’t find yourself in a financial bind you can’t easily come back from.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : I’m a Retirement Planner: Here Are 7 Ways Retirees Waste Money Every Month