Money is probably the most common cause of stress for just about everyone. It might not be ideal, but cash pretty much rules everything around you whether you like it or not. But that doesn’t mean that it always needs to be that way. One of the most common reasons that a lot of people find themselves getting into financial trouble is that they’re simply spending too much money. A lot of the time they don’t even realize that they’re doing it. Rather than intentionally spending money that they don’t have, people often make the even worse mistake of ignoring their finances entirely. By doing that you end up getting into some pretty sticky situations as far as money is concerned. The best thing then is to make sure that you’re never spending more than you absolutely have to. With that in mind, here are a few things that you’re probably spending too much money on.

Groceries

Most of us end up spending way more on groceries than we need to and a lot of it comes down to psychology. Supermarkets figured out a long time ago that they can manipulate customers into spending more money with some really simple psychological tricks. For one thing, have you ever noticed how much worse the labeling is on the “bargain brand” stuff? That’s no accident. Supermarkets want your eye to be drawn away from it and towards the more attractive, more expensive stuff. They same goes for where they are on the shelves. The cheaper options are almost always down by the floor so that you’re less likely to actually look at them, while the expensive stuff is right at your eye level. Make sure that when you’re doing your food shopping, keep an eye on the price tags rather than the labels. Nine times out of ten you won’t be able to tell the difference once it’s in your food.

Car insurance

We all know how important car insurance is. It might be a pain, but it’s definitely worse to be driving around without it. The issue is that it can end up being a serious drain on your finances. Even if you’re a safe driver with a good history, there’s one mistake almost everyone makes when it comes to their car insurance: automatically renewing it. Insurance companies are banking on the fact that it’s just easier to renew your insurance every year rather than going elsewhere, but this means that they end up raising the prices bit by bit and giving you a worse and worse deal. Make sure to shop around on sites like Comparaencasa.com every time your renewal comes up, and you’re far more likely to get a better price.

Luxuries

You might think “I don’t spend much on myself! Just a bit here and there!” But those little purchases add up. If you actually looked at how much you’re spending over the course of a month you’d probably find that those small purchases equaled a pretty sizeable chunk of money altogether. Make sure that you’re keeping a close eye on your finances to avoid getting any nasty surprises at the end of the month.