What is a money leak?
A money leak is a regular cost that you do not actively notice or think about — because it is small, infrequent, or set up on automatic payment. Individually, each leak feels insignificant. Collectively, they can amount to hundreds of pounds per year.
The most common money leaks
Forgotten subscriptions: video streaming, fitness apps, cloud storage, software trials that converted to paid. See the subscriptions hub for a full audit checklist.
Energy tariff inertia: being on a standard variable tariff when a cheaper deal or social tariff is available. The savings from switching can be £100-£300 per year.
Bank charges: monthly account fees for features you do not use. Unarranged overdraft charges. Foreign transaction fees on a card without fee-free foreign currency.
Insurance auto-renewals: home, car and other insurance typically costs significantly more to loyal customers than new customers. Never auto-renew without checking the comparison sites.
How to find your money leaks
Download three months of bank and credit card statements. Go through line by line. Highlight anything you do not immediately recognise, anything that is recurring, and anything that you are not sure you are getting value from.
Ask yourself for each item: do I know what this is? Do I actively use it? Would I miss it? If the answer to any is no, it is a potential leak.
The Annual Account Review
Once a year (many people do this in January as a new year activity), review all your regular outgoings: energy tariff, broadband contract, insurance policies, subscriptions, phone contract. Cancel or renegotiate anything that is poor value.
This annual review typically takes two to three hours and produces savings of £200-£800 for most households.