Today I bring to you yet another budgeting advice piece. This week we will be focusing on how not to be cheated out of our money. For example, you see an ad for a website selling something trendy or even cheap. Number one rule is always look for company reviews (preferably with pictures). The more reviews you find the better as no one wants to be cheated out of their hard-earned money on a product or service that is really not worth it.
Speaking of services, I recently did an experiment where I signed up to an influencer/trainer/nutritionists 30-day New Me Challenge. The idea is clear, this is a weight loss challenge where the influencer will claim to send you quality advice, training plans and nutritional menus. I did this with a friend of mine and honestly, I was pretty shook from the beginning. Instead of this being personalized and tailored to each person specifically in terms of dietary restrictions and allergies, we were all put into one group chat of around twelve women. All different ages and all different sizes and so on. We paid about €40 for this and of course didn’t expect it to be perfect but did expect some sort of professionalism.
As time came for us to begin our workouts, we also found out all her videos were pre-recorded from 2019 with some exercises that have no effect on your body or wrong positioning suggestions. Of course, I wanted to lose weight and do my best, but I ended up spending money on something that did not make me happy and did not bring me massive positive results. Not only was I paying for something I could have found online for free, but I also was not told how to work out or eat based on my dietary needs. This is a trap that many fall into. Influencers are great but they are not Gods, and they are not miracle workers. If they are trying to tell you their products are the best or their services are better than anywhere else don’t believe them. Don’t waste your money on hype that will be extinguished. From botched lip fillers to horrible quality make-up products there seems to be no easy way of saving money while also getting quality service.
So, the lesson we learned today is to be vigilant and do not fall for hyped products and services which you can get for free or from a physical place where you can test and see the products for yourself.