You are reading this personal finance blog, so you are clearly devoted to trying to improve your finances: pay off debt, save more money, prepare for retirement, maybe start investing or creating a small business.
Whatever your reasons are to read our articles and also try to better manage your money, there are ways you might still waste money and not even know about it.
Here are 7 biggest money leaks that are draining your wallet each month and keep you from reaching your financial goals faster:
Groceries
For many people this is one of the biggest budget busters.
Unless you go with a list and are always careful with how much you spend on food (and how much of it you are actually consuming), you probably overspend on this and throw a lot of food.
In our family, this has been one of our main challenges and we are still spending more than we should, even if we do save a lot of money by not eating out and by cooking our meals from scratch.
Fortunately for us we also have a big dog, so at least some of the food (mainly meat based) gets used by the four-legged family member.
Pets
It’s funny for me to say it, since it’s been almost 2 decades since we had pets (dogs). I can’t imagine living without one and for my 3 year old, being around dogs, has proven to be an amazing experience.
While it’s great having them around, our furry friends are costing us a lot of money.
We have a medium sized dog (about 70 pounds) and it’s a budget killer.
So, if you’d like to stay on top of your finances, maybe getting a pet is not the best idea.
Premium gas
Right before I purchased my car (almost 10 years ago), husband mentioned I should try and use premium gas for it. It took me few weeks to stop doing this, as I noticed the car ran beautifully without it and, since I’m not a rally driver, it doesn’t make a difference if I use regular gas or premium.
And, if we are talking about cars …
Changing cars too often
My car is almost 10 years old, it runs great, it’s in exceptional shape and has only 40K miles on it.
Some would buy a new one, since this is a 2008 model, but I’d rather not waste money on a car, when mine is still in excellent condition.
Smoking
One of the worst ways to squander your money is to have vices and smoking has always been, in my opinion, a horrible habit that has nothing positive to it.
My grandfather used to smoke, my father is still smoking and finds it hard to quit. All this time he has wasted a fortune on cigarettes, with nothing in return.
My husband quit smoking 10 years ago, after 20 years of daily nicotine consumption. On the first year he suddenly afforded a beautiful summer vacation for the two of us. He didn’t make any efforts, just saved the money he used to ‘burn’ and we had a wonderful time.
So, if you are still smoking, it’s a great time to quit.
What are your money leaks? Where do you go wrong with your money planning?
