Blame the government or blame the economy, but Americans should also blame themselves for their declining net worth.
We waste a whole lot of money. Seriously, over half a trillion dollars each year—and that's just for areas with available data.
So what counts as a waste of money? We included fines, bad investments like lottery tickets, and unhealthy consumption items like cigarettes and alcohol. We're not telling you how to live your life—but we are identifying costs that everyone should consider cutting.
Click here to see the biggest money wasters >
***Please note: We have corrected an grievous miscalculation of credit card interest payments.
$6 billion in unused gift cards each year
$41 billion in gift cards went unused from 2005 to 2011, worth $6 billion a year, according to TowerGroup. Most of these are considered lost or discarded.
But don't ditch those unused gift cards just yet—you might be able to turn them into cold, hard cash.
Last year, deals site CouponSherpa launched a movement called Gift Card Exchange Day, during which consumers could sell their unwanted or slightly used gift cards for cash.
On the marketplace, people post an ad for their card in the hopes that a gift card reseller will buy it. "On average you could pocket between 75 and 92 percent of the value of your original gift," reports BI's Mandi Woodruff.
$7 billion in ATM fees each year
Americans pay through the nose at the ATM, according to Bankrate.
What's more, these penalties are higher than ever right now.
The only way to ditch them may be dumping your big bank for a credit union. Not only do some credit unions reimburse you for ATM fees, some will even pay you for using their card.
$12 billion in traffic tickets each year
Drive too fast? Park in the wrong spot? You are spoon feeding money to the government and the insurance companies.
The National Motorists Association estimates that Americans spend 7.5 to 15 billion dollars on traffic tickets, assuming 25 to 50 million traffic tickets, costing an average of $150 with an insurance surcharges for half of them costing around $300. (We averaged the range in this estimate.)
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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