Bad Habits Can Cost You Millions
- The Millennial Millionaire
- Jan 18, 2018
- 2 min read
What if I told you that your bad habits could be costing you millions? If you were to ditch these horrid habits, maybe you'll be able to afford that dream home/car one day.
Risk vs Reward
We live in a society where the media tell us it's okay to spend and treat yourself, I mean, what's the point of working all the time if you never enjoy the fruits of your labour?
We all have a risk and reward system, and quite frankly we're starting to reward ourselves for less and less work by the day.
But just how detrimental could shopping, eating out, drinking and smoking be to your future lifestyle?
Costly Chain-Smoking
A 20-pack of cigarettes cost around £8 a day. So let's use an example of someone addicted to smoking a pack a day.
Instead of this, they could have invested in seeds. The stock market, their own business or even real estate.
Let's assume they could have made 10% on their money which had they not smoked, they would have invested.
Over a 40-year period, this means that they lost out on over £1,350,000. Shopping
This is something you see more and more of today, a £10 top here and some £20 shoes there can't stop you from acquiring that dream house right?
WRONG! We're too quick to think a little spending here and there is okay, however it all adds up rather fast.
Let's say you binge out on shopping every now and then, spending £150 a month on clothes, which I see among many of my friends today.
The grand total of this? £839,191, with the same assumptions as the previous example, in 40 years without the bad habit. Just to be clear, I'm not recommending running around naked for the rest of your life, maybe just tone it down if you overindulge.
Eating Out
Now eating out is something we can all avoid should we need to, however the temptation is always there.
Be it a McDonald's, Burger King, Nandos or Prezzo.
Takeaways are often cheaper than these meals out, and right now the average Brit spends £110 a month on takeaway.
So without takeaways, and investing that money instead, you could have £615,406.
It's a balance
Now my point from this article is not to stop you from having fun.
By all means go clubbing, travel, eat out and treat yourself every now and then.
However, my point is simply not to reward yourself for the smallest of things, as these things can quickly add up. There are other investment vehicles that could return you far more than 10% I talk about one of them in HMOs - What They Are and How They Can Make You a Lot of Money.
If you like the articles, be sure to subscribe to be notified on the newest posts.
Comments