Are Spending Leaks Killing Your Budget?
Updated: Nov 12, 2020
If I could give you only one tip to help you save money it would be this…
Find your spending leaks and plug them.
What does that mean? What are spending leaks?!?
Spending leaks are those little things that we waste money on without giving it a thought; unconsciously swiping our cards and moving on to the next thing. While they seem little at the time, over the course of the month those little leaks in spending add up to a lot of money. When I finally sat down and poured through my bank statement there were two leaks I found.
1. Coffee 2. Groceries
Coffee, my inexpensive treat that I loved to grab at the drive thru, was costing me over $70 a month. I was sick when I actually added it all up! (Keep reading for the best iced coffee recipe!)
Next groceries...
Whenever I budgeted in the past, I accounted for about $500 per month in groceries. This was me guessing and blindly having no idea what I was spending. The month I decided to buckle down and seriously tracked my spending, I spent over $900 on groceries. Holy crap!
Read more to get some quick tips to save on groceries
Once you know where your money is leaking out, determine why it’s leaking. Make a plan of action and set goals for yourself. If you start the month aiming at nothing, you’re definitely going to hit it!
For me this meant cutting my coffee runs in half, spending half the amount I did the month before. I also knew that I could not give it up because, I loved it! So I scoured Pinterest for iced coffee recipes and did some trial and error. I’m happy to report I’ve found a recipe that tastes exactly like my Starbucks/Dunkin run and costs me pennies compared to what I was spending.
Here's the recipe saving me oodles of money each month courtesy of The Tipsy Housewife.
Ingredients:
1 Small Jar of Medaglia D’oro Instant EspressoI
1 C of Crushed Ice (the crushed ice is important to me, so I got this ice bag and hammer on Amazon. Totally worth it!)
Any coffee creamer of your choice, I always use Coffee Mate Cafe Mocha.
A 16 Ounce mug
1/3 C of Luke Warm Water
Get all the directions here. It's super quick and easy!
For groceries, I needed to figure out how to cut my costs and still feed my family of six (sometimes nine). So, I slowly drilled down my costs month by month. My initial goal was to spend $100 less than the month before. As I was able to hit that goal, I decreased it further and am happy to report we can eat well (treats and splurges included) for around $600 per month.
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So if you’re wondering where you’re money is going, I encourage you to sit down with your bank statement and take a serious look at your spending. Find those leaks and set goals to spend less this month. As you move through the months and see your statement balance increase, it’ll get easier and easier to spend less.
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