Leaks
Have you ever pumped up the tires on a bicycle? Everything seems fine. The tires are firm and the bike pedals easily with properly inflated tires. Then you put the bike away… for a week, a month, a year… When you come back to it, something isn’t quite right. It doesn’t roll quite as easily. Maybe the tires sag a little (or a lot) when you sit on the bike. Just maybe, the tires are so flat that you notice it even as you approach the bike.
What happened? Some of the air you put into the tires is no longer there? Did you let it out on purpose? Not!!! Was your bicycle vandalized? Probably not. Then what happened to the air in your tires? You already know – it leaked out. Leaks can be big, like a nail, or small, like a loose valve stem. They can make your tire go flat overnight, or over a year’s time. Even if your tire doesn’t go completely flat, the leak will have a negative effect on the performance of your bike.
Likewise, money leaking out of your budget will have a negative effect on your financial health. A money leak will slow you down, increasing the time it will take for you to reach your financial goals. It will limit your performance, decreasing your investment options. If the leak is big enough, it could even make you go totally flat (bankruptcy, foreclosure).
Like leaky faucets and leaky tires, financial leaks can also be found and fixed. Sometimes the leak is obvious, other times it can take some work to track it down. What all leaks have in common, though, is that they can all be found, and more importantly, fixed. Keep coming back and we’ll discover together how to find and fix those leaks.
Cheers,
Ken