Wasteful spending can happen to anyone.
Take Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who spent thousands on VIP bottle service in nightclubs his rookie year in the NFL, leaving him “damn near dead broke,” he said on his “New Heights” podcast in 2023. Or Chris Nassetta, the CEO of Hilton, who once spent $20,000 on a Porsche while fresh off a breakup in his 20s, he told CNBC Make It in 2023.
While these examples tend to the extreme, 85% of Americans say they will at least occasionally spend money on an unnecessary expense, according to a survey of 2,000 Americans released last week by Motley Fool Money. Here are the top five most reported wasteful spending habits:
It’s no surprise food has such a prominent role in wasteful spending. For a significant majority of people self-made millionaire and author Ramit Sethi talks to, food “is the biggest category where there’s money to free up and redirect into something that matters more,” he wrote in February.
Not only is spending on food hard to track, especially for couples, but Sethi said buying food is also an emotional decision: “It’s about convenience, impulsivity, reward and more.”
