Do you every feel like you bring money in, maybe more and more every year, but it all just seems to slip through your fingers? Those budget leaks can throw off your budget because you may not even realize that they are there.
You may have some budget leaks in your system that need to be plugged. Pull out your previous month’s expenses, review debit charges and credit card charges. Total up how much you spend in certain categories like dining out, entertainment or lunches.
Here are the 5 common budget leaks that I’ve seen with my clients that take my workshop:
- Magazine subscriptions that you never read
- Automatic recurring monthly charges for items you no longer use or service plans you don’t need
- Gym memberships, memberships to music or movie clubs, or other club memberships you pay for but do not use
- Monthly monitoring fees for things you don’t need, such as credit monitoring
- Spending too much money every week/month on eating out for lunch and dinner
If you cancel some of these items or cut back on these spending categories the money will add up. The key is that once you have plugged a leak, you MUST put that money you are now saving somewhere else or it will create another leak. So open an investment account, savings account or add the amount you are saving onto a credit card or loan payment to pay down the debt quicker.
Don’t ignore your finances, plug some of these budget leaks now!