Fewer Things Better
Fewer Things Better
Ep. 195 - Money Matters: The Hidden Costs Your Brain Ignores
In this episode, we’ll talk about why these charges slip under the radar, how they quietly become “normal,” and how to spot them so you can decide what’s worth keeping (and what isn’t). Sometimes the fastest way to gain more isn’t earning more; it’s subtracting what’s quietly draining your wallet. Tune in for a simple mindset shift and practical ways to reduce unnecessary spending and keep more of what you already make.
Show Notes--If this episode resonates, you might enjoy:
Episode 41: How to Stop Giving Away Your Time, Money & Energy
Episode 156: Hidden Expenses & the Psychology of Money Leaks
Money Matters: The Hidden Costs Your Brain Ignores
I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks in a cash flow exercise with an entrepreneurial group that I am in. We are really focused on paying attention to how money moves in and out of our businesses. During one of the conversations, somebody used a phrase that my brain immediately loved: addition by subtraction
It’s a great reframe because often when we are focusing on money, our attention is on income. How to get more money, how to earn more money. But we don’t always give the same level of attention to the outgo, what’s quietly leaving our wallets.
And that’s what this episode explores: the hidden costs that your brain often overlooks.
Most of us have a pretty good handle on our money. We know where we overdo and we know where we should focus…but we aren’t always aware of those little leaks.
It’s the subtle things that we forget or we ignore like that monthly fitness membership, or those sneaky auto-renewals, or when we spend $30 more online because then we get $10 in free shipping.
First of all, businesses count on us to have this common, human behavior. There are all kinds of tactics used in marketing psychology to get you to believe you want and need more, better, faster, newer.
And our brain also wants to make sense of past investments so we’ll justify our spending with, eh, I might use it again, it’s not that much, I’ll deal with it later. I know, I know, I know.
The Bottom Line on Top of this episode is that sometimes the fastest way to move forward isn’t by adding more; it’s by subtracting what’s already quietly costing you.
Now, I am not here to say track down every receipt. This is about starting to feel empowered to stop the little leaks and keep more of your money.
A simple place to start is by scanning one or two recent bank or credit card statements–yes you can do it, just open it up and look at it. Not with judgment. Just with curiosity. Look for recurring charges, auto renewals, annual fees, and subscriptions that might have made sense once but not anymore. I once found out that I had been paying for HBO for a year because we randomly signed up for it and forgot about it.
But don’t stop there. A lot of costs don’t live on statements alone. They hide away in our apps, account settings, those subscriptions on your phone. Streaming services, cloud storage, productivity tools, trial periods that quietly turned into a recurring charge.
If you notice late fees, interest charges, or annual fees that you’re not sure why they are there, it is worth calling and asking for a courtesy waiver, especially if you’ve been a customer for a while. If you get an initial no which is often what they are trained to say, simply ask, “What is possible for some flexibility here?”
I did this just last week and got $73 back from a bank just for making a phone call that was less than 5 minutes. That’s addition!
It’s also important to note that there are layers involved in how we categorize and validate where we have spent our money (and time and even energy). Episode 41 dug into the concept of sunk costs, which are previous investments that might still influence what we keep paying for or spending today. Certainly money, but also time, effort, loyalty. I heard somebody once refer to this as a “loyalty tax” because they were attaching emotions to the money that either had been spent or was still leaking away.
Sometimes we keep giving because we already gave and maybe people are expecting us to continue to. We keep something around because we once believed we needed it. An investment of your money isn’t a debt. And it shouldn’t feel like one.
This can also show up financially, and also in our internal value system. Just because you once charged a lower rate doesn’t mean you’re tied to that rate forever. Just because you once did something for free doesn’t mean it’s a permanent coupon people get to keep using.
This, too, is addition by subtraction.
So here’s a simple invitation. This week, instead of asking what more is needed, ask what is no longer needed…or wanted.
A charge. A subscription. An outdated rate.
The opportunity is to start noticing the quiet costs, and deciding whether they still have value for you.
It’s a very important way to take care for you to invest back into you.