Don’t be caught short by firms, just walk on

BEING stuck at home during lockdown has given us more time to study our spending habits, and perhaps think about the things that we least like to have to pay for.

I’ve also been thinking about why we don’t like having to pay for certain things.

In some cases it’s because we think that whatever it is we are paying for is expensive enough without additional fees, in others it’s because we think that the fees are too high, or that the goods or services should be available without any further charge.

Of course, if we don’t like the fees that certain companies try to stick on us we do have another option in some cases – don’t buy stuff when extra fees are applied.

That’s easier said than done with some things. If you’re caught short and the only toilet in range charges a fee then your options are limited.

But you don’t have to pay overdraft fees if you don’t go overdrawn, so you do have the choice to control how you use your bank account and careful use can perhaps save on fees.

Likewise with the ATM machines that charge a fee for withdrawing money. Don’t use them. Wait until you pass a machine that is free and withdraw your money there. The fees some machines charge are extortionate.

There are lots of contracts that we enter into and goods and services that we buy that have charges that are outrageous and unfair. Some operators apply them because they know that we have little choice.

If we want to go to certain European cities, for example, and Ryanair or easyJet are the only airline that flies there, then we might just have to put up with the way they charge us for luggage and seats, even though we really don’t like it.

But in many cases we do have a choice. We can choose to go elsewhere to buy the things we need to buy, and from a provider or retailer that doesn’t impose these charges.