Here's How 42% of Americans Are Throwing Their Money Away

At a time when life has gotten so expensive thanks to inflation, the last thing you can afford to do is waste money. But a good 42% of Americans seem to be doing just that.

How so? A recent report from C+R Research found that 42% of Americans have forgotten about a recurring subscription they've kept paying for. 

Now, imagine you signed up for a streaming service eight months ago, stopped using it, thought you canceled it, but didn't. Meanwhile, month after month, you've been getting charged for that service on your credit card. That's not good.

As such, you should definitely review your credit card statements from the past year and see what subscriptions you're paying for that you may have forgotten about. But while you're at it, it pays to reassess all of your expenses and make sure the things you're paying for are really worth your money.

It's not just subscriptions that are eating up your earnings

We all spend money regularly on essential expenses like rent or mortgage payments, car payments, and food. Those things aren't negotiable -- we need them to function.

But perhaps you're paying for a host of services you really shouldn't be. And even if you're aware of those bills, that doesn't make them worth spending your hard-earned money on.

Let's say you got a great deal at your local gym a year ago that allowed you to join for just $20 a month for as long as you want. Some fitness centers charge a lot more than that, so your $20 monthly membership might seem like a great deal.

Well, it is a great deal if you actually go to the gym. If you don't, then why keep paying?

Similarly, maybe you hung onto your landline because it was a super cheap add-on to your cable TV and internet package. But if you haven't used it in months, then you might as well dump it -- even if it only adds $5 to your monthly bill.

And speaking of cable, if you're subscribed to a number of streaming services, it may be that you actually don't need to keep paying for it. If you only watch one or two shows a week, you might manage to find some content on your streaming services that acts as a nice replacement.

Conserve your funds

Cable, landlines, and gym memberships are just a few examples of things people tend to pay for needlessly. The point, however, is that at a time when living costs are so frustratingly high, it's really important to conserve funds. And that means you need to stop paying for things that aren't giving you good value.

Now, if you're subscribed to a streaming service you watch nightly, then by all means, keep it around. But you may find that if you're willing to dump the services you don't get great use out of, your bills become much easier to manage on a whole. And you may even have more money left over for the things you really enjoy.