Money Creep

You may have heard of feature creep, when tech gadgets and computer software are so loaded down with "extra" features that they become cumbersome and difficult to use. Well, how about money creep? A little Starbuck's here, some Target purchases over there, and all of a sudden you're spending upwards of $200 a month on unplanned "extras".

Case in point: At my house, I've noticed our "eating out" budget has crept steadily upwards over the past few months. This is mainly due to the fact that we don’t have time to cook at home, and it's just more pleasant (usually) to have someone else prepare and serve meals. It gives us time to catch up, and keeps our stress level a little lower during the week. But that money would be much better spent towards paying down existing debts and funding retirement accounts. So we're trying to stay home one or two more nights a week (hey, no one said we couldn't order pizza...with coupons of course) and when we do go out, we try to keep enough leftovers for lunch the next day. 

Where does your money creep? My guess is that you probably already know. (If you don't, try keeping a spending log listing every purchase you make). Tally up just how much you spend on those "extras" each month. Include things like meals out, mocha lattes with whip, clothes and shoes, beauty products, and video games and DVDs. Then, think about what else you could or should do with that money. For instance, how much faster could you pay off your mortgage or other loans with that extra cash?

Don't worry, though. I'm not saying you should quit buying all those extras cold turkey. That's just not realistic, and we still need to live a little, right? But what about cutting that spending in half? Do that, and you'll end up with a nice chunk of change you can put to better use.