They are the hidden financial leaks which cost you thousands of dollars each year and can be plugged right now.

Whether it’s laziness, ignorance or just plain indulgence, there are plenty of areas where you just don’t need to spend the money that you are. The savings from these leaks will make an enormous difference to easing the strain on your family budget.

A good start is to carry around a notebook for a month and record everything you spend. At the end of the exercise take a look at your spending pattern and the leaks will be obvious.

We’ve just gone through the exercise ourselves and these were the top 10 major leaks which can be easily plugged.

. Latte Factor

Yes that takeaway coffee and the gourmet sandwich at lunch is a little reward which brightens up your day. But add up the cost and that little reward is a very expensive exercise which could be used better elsewhere.

That $4 a coffee and $7 a sandwich is $11 a day, $55 a week and $2640 a year (allowing for 4 weeks holiday). That’s a return plane ticket to London.

Maybe a thermos and cut lunch is a better alternative.

. Subscription TV

There are now 16 free to air TV channels (including digital) covering everything from 24 hour news, entertainment, movies and sport.

First step is reviewing your current subscription TV package (which can be as much as $1000 a year plus movies on demand) to assess whether you are getting value for money. Maybe trim down to the specialist sport or movie packages.

If you’re a movie buff there’s always the alternative of buying something like Apple TV and accessing the latest movies in iTunes.

. Bundle insurance and banking products

There are big savings to be made by assessing your insurance and banking needs and bundling them together with the one financial institution.

Start by assessing the level of insurance cover and the type of banking products you currently have to make sure they match your current circumstances. An audit of banking and insurance services and a comparison with alternatives now in the market can provide big savings.

If you have a number of different providers, go ask what sort of deal they’ll offer to get all your insurance and banking products.

. Improve cash transaction habits

Bank fees suck. They needn’t be a fact of life if you’re disciplined so ask for low fee alternatives at your existing bank.

It’s simple things which save the fees. Always pay credit cards on time, never go in to overdraft, avoid using foreign ATM’s, take advantage of EFTPOS and debit cards.

Think about it and be disciplined.

. Negotiate everything

Always ask for a better deal. Every business expects customers to want a better deal so you’d be mug not to ask… they’re expecting it.

Get in the habit of questioning the price of every purchase. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to get 10-15 per cent off everything.

. Use savings to pay off debt balances

Don’t be afraid to pay off debts using savings. Spare cash works a lot harder paying off a debt attracting 15 per cent interest than sitting in a savings account earning 5 per cent.

But break the credit habit quickly and live within your means.

. Sell big ticket toys

All those rush of blood boom time extravagances that now just sit there unused need to go.

The flash pair of golf clubs, the kayak, scooter, jet ski or boat.

Ask yourself whether you really need your money tied up in luxury items like this. Atleast go on ebay and find out what they’re worth second hand and make an informed decision on whether that money could be used better elsewhere.

. Assess memberships

Often memberships to clubs accumulate over time and are renewed out of habit rather than necessity. Have a cold hard look at whether they are worth it and the savings from either downgrading the membership, or cancelling altogether, and just paying casual useage fees.

We were members of two sports stadiums until we found one gave us preferential booking to the other. It was an easy decision and saved us $600 a year.

. Stop all gambling

The facts are you will never win enough to cover your outlay… so stop.

From scratchies and lotto to the horses and casino the odds are just so stacked against you. Forget the fairy tales, put what you’d bet in a savings account and watch it grow with certainty. You’ll feel much better.

. Resist extended warranties.

There is enough legal consumer protection against dud products to make most extended warranties a waste of money. Retailers earn big commission from selling them based of fear rather than practical reality.