Personal Finance

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.