We are sure that plenty of us have asked ourselves the question of ‘where has my money gone?’. Seeing that we have plenty of money at the beginning of the week and hardly any at the end of the week is confusing and kind of worrying, especially if you don’t know exactly what you have bought. This type of spending is known as invisible spending. Although, when understanding your balance and linking it to invisible spending you also need to account for the weeks where you have outgoing bills. Sometimes we tend to forget the exact dates we have outgoings and then may start to panic when we see our balances drop.
If your money is dropping low around the essential times, you may have an issue. Thankfully, you have multiple options before turning to a loan. But, if you need to here at LoanPig we can help. For more information click here.
As long as you have enough money in your account to account for important expenses and a little bit of invisible spending, everything is ok. But, this does not mean that you should not try to cut down. Therefore, we have put together some information on cutting down on invisible spending habits to help you succeed.
What is invisible spending?
Invisible spending is money spent on things you do not realise you have bought/spent money on until you check. Typically, these tend to be those small, sneaky purchases which you may buy using contactless. Or, they could even be those where you buy something you do not regularly use. This could be meals out, your lunch, a hair cut or even an item of clothing. Either way, invisible spending is always something which shocks us at the end of the month when we check our balances.
How can you stop this type of spending?
As difficult as it is to make a quick and simple purchase, for your own benefit, it is best to reduce the number. Even though we all love buying things we like when we feel as though we can, at the end of the month, it is definitely something we regret. Here are some ways we can stop invisible spending:
Track our spending/expenses
Whether you do this by creating lists before you go shopping to ensure you only pick up what you need or after it doesn’t matter. As long as you have some sort of track it is up to you. Understanding where your money is going is very important when it comes to invisible spending as it keeps you on top. Creating a budget would also benefit you if you are trying to track your spending as you would not go over your limit.
Re-think subscriptions
These are always a large part of our outgoings, especially if you pay for TV streaming services or music or even gym memberships. The difficulty here is that although these are considered luxuries, we may feel as though they should be more as necessities if we use them a lot. Therefore, instead of completely stopping them, why don’t you look for an alternative. For example, for TV and music, you could try a new plan. Whereas for something like a gym, try and find somewhere with a cheaper membership in your area.
Work out your priorities
This is a big factor which will allow you to cut plenty of costs. If you do not need or barely use it, why are you wasting your money. You need to carefully prioritise your spending and outgoings to enable you to be a smart spender.
For more help and advice, visit the Money Advice Service.