Beware! These Four Expenses Can Cause Your Finances to 'Slowly Leak'
Beware! These Four Expenses Can Cause Your Finances to ‘Slowly Leak’
Jakarta, VIVA – The increasing cost of living is causing many households to re-evaluate their monthly expenses. The threat of high inflation is pushing consumers to be more careful in spending money, from daily necessities to lifestyle choices.
In this situation, financial experts believe that there are several expense categories that can be easily reduced without significantly affecting essential needs. A consumer expert from the UK, Vipin Porwal, believes that people’s shopping habits are becoming increasingly selective.
“What we are seeing now is that many consumers are getting used to paying attention to low prices and looking for the best value, being more careful in budgeting, and making more planned purchases,” he said, as quoted by The Independent, Sunday, May 17, 2026.
Here are some of the main expenses that can be reduced to help reduce monthly costs:
- Reduce food delivery services
One of the fastest ways to drain money is through food delivery services. Although convenient, additional fees from these apps can cause spending to swell without people realizing it.
“The biggest cuts I see clients making are in eating out and food delivery services. By reducing eating out and cooking more at home, most people can save hundreds of dollars,” said financial planner Nathan Haas.
He also mentioned that the average expenditure on eating out can reach around US$2,841 per year or equivalent to IDR 48.3 million (exchange rate of IDR 17,000). For a two-person household, savings from reducing half of this expense could reach around US$237 or IDR 4.03 million per month.
- Switch grocery shopping locations
Shopping for daily necessities is also a major factor in monthly expenses. The price difference between supermarkets turns out to be quite significant. Based on comparative price studies, consumers can save about 8.5 percent by switching from expensive supermarkets to cheaper ones. In fact, the difference can reach 21 percent in membership-based wholesale stores.
In some cases, the price difference between premium and discount stores can reach up to 50 percent. In addition, choosing store-brand products instead of well-known brands can also help reduce costs without significantly sacrificing quality.