The 4 leaks where your money disappears
Invisible expenses, forgotten subscriptions, and small purchases that don't seem like much. Where to look first when you don't understand where your salary went.
When someone tells me “I don’t know where my money goes”, I almost always find the same thing. It’s not one big expense — it’s several small ones that quietly add up.
There are four typical leaks. If you review all four, you can recover more money in one afternoon than you’d think.
1. Subscriptions you no longer use
Streaming, apps, tools, gyms. Things you started with a free month that have been charging you for two years.
Look at the last three card statements and flag anything that’s auto-billed. Cancel anything you haven’t used in the last month. Done.
2. Delivery and eating out
I’m not telling you to stop going out. I’m telling you to look at the total. It’s very easy to spend a few hundred dollars on delivery without realizing it because each individual order seems small.
Add up a whole month. If the number makes you uncomfortable, you know what to do.
3. “Small” purchases that aren’t small
Coffee, corner stores, transport, tips. Any expense under five bucks that you swipe and don’t track. This can be 10% to 25% of your month without you noticing.
Don’t obsess about logging each one. Look at the monthly total of “small purchases” and decide whether it feels healthy.
4. The monthly fee for something you don’t want anymore
Expensive phone plan, insurance you never use, membership for something you stopped months ago. Things you pay out of inertia.
List everything that’s auto-debited and ask, item by item: “if this weren’t already a contract, would I sign up today?”. If the answer is no, cancel it.
Honest diagnosis: if you review all four leaks, you’ll almost certainly find between 5% and 15% of your monthly income going to things you don’t actually care about. That’s money that goes straight to savings, with no effort.