Hidden Costly: Why Your Budget Is Filled With Unnecessary Spending

How many times have you looked at your budget, you know took a long hard gaze at that document?

Perhaps an even more important question is what does your budget have on it that you don’t need, such as more of a want or a service you simply tell yourself you can’t live without?

The fact remains is that the general public isn’t saving money, and there is a reason behind it: we don’t know how to cut expenses or budget accurately. Cutting expenses mean finding spots in that very same budget where you can save money by eliminating. And while that may sound harsh and “not fun,” the real payoff comes in the form of a savings account, which almost 70 percent of the population has but boasts an average of meek $1,000 or less in it.

Often, when it comes to expenses and cutting them, we tend to think of the big-ticket items, such as the idea of selling a house to move into a small apartment or even back home with your family. Then, the car discussion turns from having that new truck and trading it in to get a less reliable, cheaper alternative.

And in some circumstances that is very necessary, but to avoid that at the moment, you might want to dig a little deeper into the issue at hand, which is finding smaller, less monumental money moves that are equally important but more over the long haul.

Think for a second about two expenses specifically: cable and food. Cable and other subscription services are littered with extra fees, most of which we tend to overlook, such as, in the case of cable, up charges for modem rentals, HD boxes or other services that can be eliminated or scaled back to save money.

In the case of food, you not only have to be cautious of eating out at restaurants consistently but also what you order as well. Just lunch out three times a week and dinner that same amount of time is going to cost you about $2,000 per year. Ordering a beverage with your meal seems inconsequential, but that’s another $500 to $600 on top of that.

That staggering realization suggests that we’re wasting money and looking at the term “expenses” in the wrong light. Granted, they can be bills in the most real sense but what about money habits, most of which can be cleaned up and turning those expenses into money saved just by paying a little more attention to where your money is going.