I used to think having the latest everything was a sign I’d made it. New gadgets every year, designer clothes, eating out constantly because cooking was “beneath” someone running a startup. By twenty-eight, I was hemorrhaging money faster than I could make it, even with a decent income from my second company.
Then that company failed. Spectacularly. And suddenly I had to take a hard look at where every dollar was going.
Now in my mid-thirties, my bank account tells a completely different story. Not because I’m earning more (though that helps), but because I stopped buying things that were quietly draining my wealth. The shift happened gradually as I watched financially savvy friends build real wealth while others stayed stuck in the same cycles.
Here are ten things I’ve noticed financially smart people stop buying in their 30s that wasteful people keep purchasing.
1. Brand new cars every few years
Remember when getting that new car smell felt like the ultimate achievement? I bought a brand new BMW at twenty-seven after selling my first startup, thinking it was my reward for “making it.”
Two years later, that car had lost 40% of its value. Meanwhile, a friend who bought a three-year-old Toyota was putting the difference into index funds. Guess who’s closer to early retirement now?
Financially smart people realize cars are tools, not status symbols. They buy reliable used vehicles and drive them for years. The money saved? That goes toward assets that actually appreciate.
2. The latest smartphone every year
How many times have you upgraded your phone when the old one worked perfectly fine? I was that guy standing in line for every new iPhone release, convinced each marginal improvement would change my life.
Here’s what I learned: that $1,200 annual phone upgrade could be $12,000 invested over a decade. Smart money keeps phones for three to four years minimum. The camera on your two-year-old phone? Still takes great photos.
3. Subscription services they don’t use
Quick exercise: Count how many subscriptions you have right now. Netflix, Spotify, that meditation app you used twice, the meal kit service gathering dust in your freezer.
I did this audit last year and found I was bleeding $287 monthly on subscriptions I barely touched. That’s over $3,400 annually. Financially intelligent people regularly audit their subscriptions and ruthlessly cut what they don’t actively use. They share family plans, rotate services, and realize that having access to everything means you usually enjoy nothing.
4. Trendy workout equipment and gym memberships
That Peloton gathering dust? The CrossFit membership you haven’t used since February? You’re not alone.
The fitness industry banks on our optimism bias. We buy equipment thinking this time will be different. Smart spenders have learned their patterns. They start with bodyweight exercises, YouTube videos, or running before committing to expensive equipment. When they do join a gym, they negotiate rates and actually show up.
One financially savvy friend told me something that stuck: “I spent $2,000 on home gym equipment I never used. Now I do push-ups and run. Free, and I actually do it.”
5. Designer clothing and accessories
Walking into meetings during my startup days, I thought my designer wardrobe commanded respect. What it actually commanded was a maxed-out credit card.
People who build wealth understand that a $300 shirt doesn’t make you three times more competent than someone in a $100 shirt. They buy quality basics that last, shop sales, and realize that nobody really notices or cares about labels except other people wasting money on labels.
The real power move? Looking put-together in clothes that didn’t cost a fortune.
6. Expensive coffee and daily lunch orders
“It’s just $5.” Famous last words of the perpetually broke.
That daily $5 latte and $15 lunch? That’s $5,200 a year. Over a decade, invested with average returns, you’re looking at around $70,000. Suddenly that coffee doesn’t taste so good.
I’ve mentioned this before, but meal prep Sundays changed my financial life. Two hours of cooking saves me roughly $300 monthly. Financially smart people still enjoy eating out, they just make it intentional rather than default.
7. Storage units for stuff they never use
Are you paying $100 monthly to store things worth less than $1,200 total? You’re basically renting your junk a small apartment.
A colleague recently admitted she’d paid $4,800 over four years to store college furniture she could have replaced for $800. This is more common than you’d think. Smart money follows a simple rule: if you haven’t used it in a year and it’s not genuinely valuable, sell it or donate it.
8. Extended warranties on everything
The salesperson’s eyes light up when you buy that extended warranty. There’s a reason, they’re incredibly profitable for stores and rarely worth it for consumers.
Financially savvy people know that credit cards often extend warranties for free, and most products either break immediately (covered by standard warranty) or last for years. They self-insure by putting what they would have spent on warranties into an emergency fund.
9. Impulse purchases from social media ads
Those Instagram ads know you better than you know yourself. That’s the problem.
I once calculated that I was spending about $200 monthly on random stuff from social media ads. Gadgets, courses, supplements, things that seemed revolutionary at 11 PM while scrolling in bed. Smart spenders use the 72-hour rule: screenshot it, wait three days. If you still want it and can explain why you need it, then consider buying.
Spoiler: you usually won’t even remember what it was.
10. Premium everything when regular works fine
Finally, there’s the premium trap. Premium gas for a car that doesn’t need it. First-class flights for two-hour trips. Name-brand medications when generics have identical active ingredients.
During my failed startup days, I learned something valuable: nobody cares about your premium choices except your bank account. The financially intelligent optimize for value, not status. They go premium where it genuinely matters to them and basic everywhere else.
The bottom line
Looking at this list, I see my twenty-something self making every single one of these mistakes. The difference between then and now isn’t that I’m perfect with money. It’s that I’ve learned to question each purchase.
Is this adding real value to my life? Or am I buying an image, a feeling, a story I’m telling myself?
The friends I know who’ve built real wealth didn’t do it through deprivation. They did it by being intentional, by recognizing that every dollar spent on something that doesn’t matter is a dollar not invested in something that does.
Your thirties are when compound interest starts getting interesting. Don’t waste them buying things that keep you broke.