DENVER — If better budgeting was one of your 2020 New Year's resolutions and you’re already struggling to stick to a financial plan, you may have a few budget busting spending habits that are causing you to overspend.
“The little things do add up so by all means pay attention to those small expenses,” said Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride.
McBride said from streaming services to that daily cup of coffee, the average American is overspending by thousands of dollars every year.
“That $5 daily coffee adds up to more than $1,800 in the course of a year,” McBride said.
Slickdeals.net recently conducted a survey that revealed the top 10 budget busters that make it hard for consumers to stick to financial plans.
Forty percent of respondents said online shopping throws their budget out the window and 39% said unnecessary grocery shopping tipped their budget over.
The list of “budget busters” also included subscription services, technology products, buying lunch, household essentials, food delivery, unused gym memberships and entertainment.
But McBride said to fix the problem, you don’t need to go to extremes.
“Don’t strive to take it out cold turkey but maybe cut in half," he said.
The same goes for going out to eat.
“I think one of the key reasons people are overspending is they are not tracking their spending,” he said.
McBride said tracking your spending will help you easily identify "budget busters" and keep thousands of dollars in your wallet.