I Found £175 a Month I Didn't Know I Was Wasting. Here's How You Can Too

Michelle thought she was sensible with money.

She ran a business, managed personal finances, paid her bills on time. She wasn't out buying designer handbags or booking spontaneous spa weekends.

Yet every month, money disappeared.

Not in one big dramatic purchase she could point to and say, "That's where it went." It just... vanished. Like someone was siphoning it away in the night.

She'd check her banking app and think, "Where the hell did that go?"

Sound familiar?

The Money That Disappears Into Thin Air

Here's what was really happening with Michelle (and what's probably happening with you too):

She was bleeding money through dozens of tiny cuts she didn't even notice.

The Costa Coffee on the way to a client meeting that tasted, in her words, "rubbish" but she bought it anyway because she was rushing.

The meal deal from the corner shop while working on her business because she hadn't packed lunch.

The Netflix subscription she'd upgraded months ago and forgotten about.

The gym membership auto-renewing even though she'd stopped going after that first enthusiastic week in January.

None of it felt significant. That's the trap.

A fiver here. Eight quid there. Twelve pounds for something she can't even remember buying.

But when Michelle actually tracked it? £175 a month.

Over two grand a year. Gone. On things she didn't want, didn't enjoy, and definitely didn't need.

Why "Just Spending Less" Never Works

Before we worked together, Michelle had tried the usual things.

She'd tell herself to "be more careful." She'd promise to "cut back." She'd feel guilty about spending and try to white-knuckle her way through the month.

It never stuck.

Because here's the truth nobody tells you: you cannot manage what you cannot see.

Your bank account doesn't care about your intentions. It only cares about what actually leaves it.

And if you're not actively looking at where your money's going, really looking, not just glancing at your balance and hoping for the best, you'll never get ahead of it.

The Hidden Money Challenge That Changed Everything

When Michelle joined The Everyday Budget, one of the first things we did was the Hidden Money Challenge.

Not a budget. Not a spending freeze. Just awareness.

We looked at three months of bank statements and asked one simple question about every single transaction:

"Did I actually want this?"

Not "Was it necessary?" or "Could I justify it?" Just: Did I want it?

The results were staggering.

That Costa Coffee? She actively disliked it. But she bought it because it was convenient and she was in a rush.

The corner shop snacks? She didn't even enjoy them. They were just... there.

The subscriptions? Half of them she'd completely forgotten existed.

The meal deals, the impulse Amazon purchases at 11:47pm, the "just a few bits" that turned into forty quid at the supermarket.

None of it was bringing her joy. None of it was funding anything meaningful.

It was just leaking out of her account, month after month, while she wondered why she could never get ahead.

What £175 a Month Actually Means

Let's put that number into perspective.

£175 a month is:

• £2,100 a year

• £10,500 over five years

• £21,000 over a decade

  
  

That's not pocket change. That's a family holiday. That's paying off a chunk of debt. That's your emergency fund. That's breathing room.

And Michelle didn't have to earn more to find it. She didn't have to take on extra work or sacrifice things she loved.

She just had to stop spending money on things she didn't actually want.

The Shift From Chaos to Control

Once Michelle could see where her money was going, everything changed.

She wasn't panicking anymore. She wasn't avoiding her banking app. She wasn't waking up at 3am wondering how she'd cover next month's bills.

She had options.

Pay down debt faster? Yes. Fund family holidays? Absolutely. Close the car finance early? She could actually do it.

But more than the practical wins, something deeper shifted.

She stopped feeling like money was happening to her. She started making decisions about it.

That's what visibility does. It puts you back in charge.

Where Your Money Is Probably Hiding Right Now

Based on working with hundreds of women, here's where hidden money usually lives:

Subscriptions you've forgotten about Spotify Premium when you barely listen. The meditation app you used twice. The meal kit delivery you meant to cancel three months ago.

Convenience spending The coffee you don't really want. The lunch you grab because you didn't pack anything. The corner shop "emergency" shop that costs three times what it would at the supermarket.

Autopilot purchases The things you buy because you always buy them, not because you actually need them. The brand-name version when the own-brand is identical. The "just in case" items that sit unused.

Guilt spending Saying yes when you mean no because you don't want to disappoint someone. Buying things for the kids that they don't ask for because you feel bad saying no to something else.

Decision fatigue spending The online basket at midnight because you're too tired to think clearly. The impulse purchase because choosing feels easier than walking away.

None of these are bad spending. They're just unconscious spending.

And unconscious spending is expensive.

What Happens When You Find Your Hidden Money

Here's what changes when you can actually see where your money goes:

You stop saying "we can't afford that" automatically and start saying "let me check."

You stop feeling guilty about spending on things you actually want because you've freed up money from things you don't.

You stop living in a constant low-level state of money anxiety because you know what's happening with every pound.

You start making choices that align with what you actually value, not just what's convenient in the moment.

And you start building the life you want instead of wondering why it feels so far away.

Your Next Step

If you've read this far and you're thinking, "I wonder how much hidden money I've got," there's a simple way to find out.

I've created a free guide called The Hidden Money Finder that walks you through the exact process Michelle used.

You don't need to overhaul your entire life. You don't need to go on some extreme spending freeze or feel deprived.

You just need to see what's actually happening. Because once you see it, you can change it.

Get your free The Hidden Money Finder guide here and discover how much hidden money is sitting in your bank account right now.

Because you deserve to know where your money's going. And you deserve to make it work for what you actually want.

Ready to find your hidden money? Download the guide and start taking control of your finances today. Click Here to get yours.