5 Everyday Money Habits That Quietly Drain Middle-Class Wealth

5 Everyday Money Habits That Quietly Drain Middle-Class Wealth

Cindy Lamothe   Tue, November 25, 2025  GOBankingRates

We all know money can slip through our fingers — but sometimes it’s not flashy splurges or big mistakes that do the damage.

It’s the little, everyday habits that quietly chip away at your hard-earned wealth. If you’ve ever wondered why your bank account doesn’t quite grow despite steady paychecks, you’re not alone.

 “Increasing prices have led to the survival debt of most Americans,” said Jeffrey Hensel, broker associate at North Coast Financial. “The change is usually nuanced to the middle class, and it starts with small changes in their lifestyle, which gradually escalate into huge financial burdens.”

Let’s take a closer look at some common money habits that could be holding back your financial growth — and what to do about them.

Credit Card Debt

According to Olivier Wagner, founder and CEO of 1040 Abroad, credit cards can be a very efficient help in managing one’s flow of income and obtaining needed benefits but they can also do much to ruin one’s wealth if they are not used with care.

His recommendation? Always pay your bill in full from month to month so as to escape from interest.

“Always charge your purchases to your credit cards that you can pay long before the bill comes due,” Wagner advised.

Stay on Top of Subscriptions

“Most people have a problem with not paying attention to their bank statements, because the small charges are not worth looking up individually,” said Wagner.

As a result, he said all together they will amount to hundreds and thousands of dollars over the course of a year. Wagner recommended regularly checking your bank statements to cancel those subscriptions that you do incur charges for.

Checking into this periodically will free up hundreds of dollars a year for you to allocate for investment purposes for you or funds to put into savings.

Avoid Impulse Purchases

TO READ MORE:  https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/5-everyday-money-habits-quietly-165505276.html