Debt by a Thousand Cuts

Let’s do a quick exercise.

Grab your bank and credit card statements.

(I’ll wait.)

Take a peek at your recurring charges . . . streaming, apps, memberships, subscriptions. What do you see?

How many streaming services are coming out of your account every month? Do you belong to a warehouse club? What gaming platforms are on there? What other companies have access to your accounts for the so-called “convenience” of payment? Book of the month? Wine of the month?

Those recurring charges are OK. Truly! Provided you assess them regularly and verify that not only are you using them but you actually still want those products and services. If not, you could be suffering from debt by a thousand cuts.

It’s time to stop the financial bleeding!

It was convenient to sign up. But it’s pretty inconvenient to shut it down, huh?

But . . . but . . . it’s such a hassle to cancel!

If you need a little motivation, consider this: Most people find between eight and twelve recurring charges that they don’t use or forgot they even had. It just hits their bank account or credit card automatically month after month after month.

Let’s do some mathing on that.

Say you have ten charges at $15 a month. Here’s how that adds up:

$ 15     per month

x 10     recurring charges

$150    per month

Here’s more math:

$150    per month

x 12     months in a year

$1,800 per year

Is there anything else you’d rather do with that $1,800?

Pay down debt? Enjoy a vacation? Treat your mom to dinner? Every month would be nice!

The point is YOU should be in control.

We’re easily coaxed into spending money automatically. Each one of those automatic payments is a hole in your wallet. It truly is debt by a thousand cuts.

The entire premise of Budget YOU! is to help YOU be intentional about your spending. You really can stop going with the flow and take control of your finances. Take control of your life.

You know. Be the boss of your bucks!