Money Management - Are You Making These 3 Common Mistakes That Are Keeping You Broke and Stressed?

Nothing stresses people out more than money challenges, yet most people are oblivious to the ways in which they squander their earnings, thus they continue to make mistakes that perpetuate their stress over money.

Would you believe that one of your innocent daily expenditures is costing you $1.6 Million? What would you do with this extra money: Pay off your house? Send your children to a great college? Retire and travel?

What if I told you that making just a few minor adjustments will give you all of that money back in your wallet? Would you call me crazy? That's OK. Maybe you feel good about:

• having tried to save money before and ending up in more debt. - having more days left at the end of the month than money in your bank account. - staying awake at night wondering how to solve this problem and having no solution in sight.

Here are 3 common expenses that are sapping your finances and your health:

Expense #1: ATM fees.

You can be charged $2-$5 every time you use an ATM that doesn’t belong to your bank. You are being penalized for the convenience of accessing your money.

What to do instead:
1. Use your bank’s ATMs or branches for cash withdrawal.

2. Choose to deposit and invest your money with a credit union.
Expense #2: Dry cleaning.

You can easily spend $10-$25 weekly and this expense adds up very quickly. Plus the chemicals used in this process can cause allergy and other health issues.

What to do instead:
1. Many silk and linen clothing items can be hand washed with a delicate laundry detergent and laid flat to dry.

2. Minimize your dry cleaning trips for a healthier wallet and immune system.

Expense #3: Cable subscription.

Depending on the package that you have, you could be paying anywhere from $49 to $179 per month for this service.

What to do instead:
1. Check how many times during the week you surfed your 250 or 500 channels only to realize that there was nothing worth watching.

2. Check how many hours you spend watching TV. Do they amount to an unpaid part time job?

These are just three of the ways in which you are spending your money unproductively, which are keeping you broke and stressed out.