Just about every household will run into financial challenges from time to time. Careful, disciplined budgeting and saving will reduce the frequency with which such problems arise and make it easier to overcome them.

Many households regularly waste money that could be saved and invested, instead. Figuring out where a household’s budget is leaking can be one of the most important financial accomplishments of all.

There are five ways by which households most frequently lose money without receiving anything in return. Learn how to recognize and eliminate these common sorts of financial waste, and you will be better off.

1. Paying Too Much in Taxes

Businesses and wealthy individuals almost always put plenty of effort into keeping their tax burdens low. People of relatively ordinary backgrounds, though, often make the mistake of assuming that there are no analogous options for them.

In fact, just about anyone who pays taxes should be able to find ways of cutting the annual bill. Companies like Qualified Opportunity Funds, for instance, show investors how to manage their capital gains to keep tax liability to a minimum.

Taking any such sort of action will almost always be preferable to seeing taxes as entirely out of your control. Taxpayers who learn to plan and act more strategically can save large amounts of money by entirely legal, aboveboard means.

2. Spending Too Much on Financial Services Fees

Managing money is not easy, but it does not have to be expensive. Many households waste money every month on costs like bank account fees that could easily be eliminated.

Even where the individual sums are fairly small, the overall total can end up quickly. Switch to a member-owned credit union or even a different bank, and you could end up saving a lot of money every year.

3. Paying Credit Card Interest Every Month

Credit cards can be convenient, but they can also be dangerous. Many today carry very high interest rates that translate into large costs for people who keep balances on them.

Pay down your credit card debt instead, and you might save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. Even simply transferring balances to a card that features a lower interest rate can produce significant savings.

Of course, it will always be best to avoid falling into the same trap thereafter. The average consumer today would do well to learn how to use credit cards more responsibly.

4. Eating Out Too Often

Many people think nothing of eating lunch at a restaurant several times or more each workweek. Even people who stick to thrifty sandwich shops and the like can end up spending thousands of dollars annually on such meals.

Pack a lunch more often, and you will put money away without sacrificing all that much. Look for other opportunities to skip paying restaurant tabs and your savings will grow even more quickly.

5. Maintaining Too Many Digital Subscriptions

Businesses that provide digital services like streaming have figured out effective ways of maximizing their revenues. One of these is to steer most customers toward monthly subscriptions with fees that can individually seem inconsequential.

It might not break the bank to pay ten dollars each month for a single video streaming service. Add even one or two more sites to the total, though, and your annual spending will no longer be as insignificant.

Be aware of these five common sources of wasted, unnecessary spending, and you should be able to maintain better control over your household’s finances. In many cases, people who look into such issues discover that they can improve upon the status quo without sacrificing anything of value at all.