Family Style Financial Leakage

Although I will never get a job in an accounting department, I know enough business 101 to understand the impact that leakage – an unwanted or unplanned expense that could have been controlled if properly monitored or stabilized – can have on a company.

And now I am applying this same concept to our home finances and realizing that it is not diapers and formula eating away at our budget, but kid-friendly leakage. It’s the box of tissues pulled out one by one and scattered on the floor ($1.79), the gallon of milk left to spoil due to the missing lid ($3.99), the entire bag of tortilla chips given to Casey ($2.99), the trip to the car wash due to a leaky sippy cup ($17.50), the trip to the dry cleaners for that same reason ($6.59), the t-shirt that skips the washer and goes straight to the thrash due to an excess amount of strained green beans ($4.99) and the bottle of wine after a full day of two kids screaming ($9.99). And that was just in one week!