3 Frugal Habits That Might Backfire on You

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You might end up regretting all of these. 

Some people are just plain frugal by nature — they refuse to spend more money than necessary, and they’re always looking for ways to save a few dollars. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being frugal. In fact, making an effort to cut costs could bring you closer to meeting your financial goals, whether it’s saving for retirement, buying a home, or paying for college. A frugal lifestyle might also make it so you never have to carry a credit card balance forward — and pay interest as a result.

But in some cases, being frugal has the potential to backfire on you. Here are a few scenarios where frugal actions on your part might lead to not only wasted money, but also, added stress.

1. Doing your own home maintenance — and causing damage in the process

There are certain home maintenance tasks that aren’t all that difficult to complete — things like mowing your lawn and trimming your bushes. But if you’re looking at a more complicated type of maintenance, like cleaning out your gutters or dryer vent, you may want to outsource the work to a professional. If you attempt to tackle it yourself, you might end up causing damage to your home and costing yourself more than the fee to bring in an outsider who knows what they’re doing.

2. Addressing home repairs yourself — and getting hurt along the way

Doing your own home repairs is a great way to cut costs — if you really know what you’re doing. If you don’t, or if the work at hand requires special tools and skills you don’t have, you could end up not only causing further damage, but also, hurting yourself. And if you wind up with a $500 emergency room bill because you wanted to save yourself a $200 plumber fee, you’ll only end up kicking yourself.

3. Buying in bulk — but letting food spoil and go to waste

Buying groceries in bulk is a great way to keep your costs down. But bulk buying only works in certain situations. And if you buy in bulk under the wrong circumstances, you could easily end up having to throw spoiled food away.

It’s one thing to buy large quantities of produce, meat, and dairy products if you’re feeding a family and you’re confident you’ll be able to consume everything before it goes bad. But if you live solo, you may want to think twice before purchasing five pounds of fresh salmon or 32 servings of fresh broccoli in a single shopping trip. If you wind up throwing out a large chunk of your haul, you won’t end up with any savings whatsoever.

Being frugal is certainly not a bad way to live. And often, people who make a point to keep their living costs down tend to be appreciative of what they have, which is a great quality. But in some cases, frugal habits could end up causing more harm than good. It’s important to be mindful of that when making your spending decisions.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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