How do you leak money?

[Kavvy]

I am trying to stop the leak in my fiances. I currently have a job, but with the downturn, it seems like a good time to stop spending money on items I don't need.

For example,

-HBO Canada - $20/month was leaving my account because I watch VEEP and GoT (although Last Week almost made me keep it). For me the movie options wasn't worth the fee.
-I phoned Shaw and saved $8/month on my plan due to other reasons.... it isn't going to break the bank, but hey, its free money
-Google Music was charging me money every month for a service I don't use.
-Gym membership I don't use enough was cancelled.



What do you spend money on which doesn't add anything to your life, or adds very little value?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Kavvy

I am trying to stop the leak in my fiances...

You're getting married to a leaky blow up doll?



In all seriousness I often find that looking at your credit card bills tells you where the "leakage is" - just look for the recurring charges.

- Telus / Shaw / Cell Phone Bill - we're all paying for too much service.
- Auto / Home Insurance - opportunities to lift deductibles can mean for premium reductions.
- Benefits plans with spouse - if your spouse works co-ordinate benefits and hopefully your plan is such that you can pocket the savings in cash or holidays.
- Bank Service charges - be sure to put the minimum balances to avoid charges.
- Credit Cards - don't have more than 1 with annual charges.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

You're getting married to a leaky blow up doll?

Fiances - plural. He must have two on the go.

Seriously, it's good to do these things but most people have lots bigger items than those. I'm a financial planner and have seen people who blow many hundreds of dollars a month on stuff they don't need.

[droopydrew19]

Originally Posted by Kavvy

I am trying to stop the leak in my fiances.

[malcolmk14]

Eating out. I eat out way too much.

[Coys1882]

Eating out, Magic and Video Games.

[Machiavelli]

Online shopping for sure....some stuff I keep if it's too much trouble to send it back.

[WhiteTiger]

I found keeping a "Finance Journal" for a month really opened my eyes. Swore to myself to be brutally honest and put every cent in it, and it showed me a lot of stuff.

Money tended to leak out in little bits and pieces. The weekly coffee really added up...especially the days I had a second or third. A chocolate bar here, more dinners out than I care to admit. Keep a journal of where it goes, and you'll spot the leaks fast enough.

What you DO about them, that's another thread.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

Eating out, Magic and Video Games.

magic?

[Regulator75]

Originally Posted by ma-skis.com

magic?

[CaptainCrunch]

making it rain

[GGG]

Starbucks was a $25 a week habit and before I cut down to eating out once a week. Lunch was probably getting close to $100 per week.

For me cutting these back to $50 a week total max (Still way too much but its a start) has saved me a significant amount of money.

The lunch thing takes planning and discipline though. It helps if you can convince your regular lunch group to all cut back. Its the social aspect of going for coffee and lunch that always gets me.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

10,000 actually...

[photon]

Originally Posted by ma-skis.com

magic?

[4X4]

Make a spreadsheet. If you have gmail, then you have access to Excel. Go in there and make a spreadsheet with your income and your monthly expenses that are actual bills, and leave out the variables like coffee and groceries. Once that's in front of you, it's easier to start cutting out the stuff you don't need/use.

The biggest thing you'll notice is that once you know exactly how much cash you've got to throw around per period, you'll start counting it in your head, and going on to your bank account at night and taking a look, and you'll just become much more aware of what you're spending and when and why.

It's also really motivating once you start upping your money saving "bills". If you tinker with it and you take $25 off your cable bill and tack that on to your kid's RESP, you'll love looking at it.

[stampsx2]

Movie theatre. $15 for a movie plus another $15 for popcorn and a drink for just one person. Save a bunch of money there.

[MrCallahan]

I cancelled my Bell cell phone, and switch to Wind Mobile, saving me about $60/month. Some slight inconvenience with Wind, but worth it for the savings.

became a cord cutter, and cancelled cable, that's another $80/month in savings.

Bringing my own lunches to work, haven't calculated that, but it's definitely saved on the regular going out for lunch.

Considerably less visits to Starbucks/Tim's as well.

[Wormius]

This might sound bad, but as a family we spend an awful amount of kids' continuing extracurricular activities. I am not saying the kids shouldn't do anything, I just think a lot of money goes towards lessons for our kids that we could probably, if more motivated, take upon ourselves or just say "it's complete". From my perspective, they know how to swim, and how to skate well enough to avoid a) drowning, b) injuring themselves, etc). My better half sees potential a) Olympic athletes, b) concert pianistic, c) Chinese diplomats, etc.

I am not sure if there are any huge money savings to be had outside of cancelling home phone and cable and only having internet. It can't be understated how rich our library is for entertainment resources beyond just books - audio books, dvds, etc. If there was a money crunch, we'd definitely cancel cable and maybe the home phone and just use our cells.

We also spend somewhere north of $100 for a family membership to the rec. centre.. We don't utilize it nearly as much as we should, but as a family of 4 to go swimming, skating, wall climbing once or twice a week would cost a lot more than $100. But on the other hand we could also find something else to do.

I also seem to spend a lot on cheese.

[JonDuke]

Yet another thread that reminds me I really need to quit smoking again.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by JonDuke

Yet another thread that reminds me I really need to quit smoking again.

Um ya. $300 a month saved or $3600 for the year. It's like getting a huge raise. Guy at work quit and bought a motorcycle. He now goes for rides into the mountains and loves it. Not to mention the health benefits of course to him and his family. Don't ride bikes? Buy a tv and take a yearly trip to mexico courtesy of players light.