When it comes to being financially secure, most people rely on budgets to keep them in check, but it turns out a lot of people aren’t exactly sticking with them.
A new survey finds that 74% of Americans do follow some sort of budget, but 79% admit they have trouble keeping within their budget. And all this overspending is costing folks a lot of money. In fact, the survey finds Americans spend $7,429.24 over their budget every year. On average Americans have a weekly budget of around $197.31, not counting housing and credit card bills, although they are more likely to spend $340.18 each week, $142.87 over their budget.
The survey notes that only 10% of people think sticking to a budget is easy, and there are certainly some things that can easily kill your plans to stick to your weekly numbers. Respondents say online shopping is the biggest killer of a budget (40%), followed by grocery shopping (39%).Other budget killers include:
- Subscription services (37%)
- Technology products (36%)
- Buying lunch everyday (35%)
- Household essentials (32%)
- Coffee (32%)
- Food delivery (32%)
- Gym memberships (30%)
- Entertainment (movies, concerts, etc.) (29%)
Source:Yahoo Finance