Posted by Maneesh Sethi :: October 23, 2007 @ 10:22 am

Where is your money going? When you look at your bank account at the end of the month, do you know where all that money went? Unless you keep a detailed budget, you probably have no idea how your money went from 'yeaaa' to ‘yikes' in 30 days.

Where does your money go? A lot of times, your money is disappearing into the abyss of money suckers--- services and items that essentially take your money without returning great value. For example, think about the cup of fancy White Chocolate Mocha with hazelnut and soy milk. Sure, it's only 5 bucks for the drink (and it includes a free 500-calorie, heart-attack-inducing delicious pick-me up), but what happens when the habit moves from once a week to once a day? When you are suddenly paying 35 bucks a week for a morning coffee that you probably don't need, coffee has become a money sucker.

Why are they called money suckers? Well, they suck your money away. Also, you become kind of a sucker for subscribing to them. (Two levels, get it?) Some of these things add up and you can even forget how much you are paying for them.

To find your own money suckers, just look at your credit card statements and watch your spending for a month. Notice how much you are paying for your cell phone plan (do you use all your minutes?), for cable TV (do you watch all those channels?), for food and drinks, and for anything else that you buy on a consistent basis. Look at magazine subscriptions and other recurring payments in particular.

Recurring payments and addictive substances (like coffee or cigarettes) are the biggest money suckers. If you can do without them, your finances will be a whole lot better. Once you have some extra cash available from applying these savings techniques, try investing in some person-to-person loans on Lending Club.