Found the Leak Yet? Pinpointing Where Your Money Goes
Are you tracking your spending but still feeling overwhelmed? In this episode of Ask Ralph, we take the next step in building financial clarity. Ralph walks through how to analyze your tracked expenses—not just to collect data, but to find meaning. The key? Identifying your biggest “leak”—that one area where your money consistently slips away more than you realized or intended. Whether it’s takeout, subscriptions, or impulse buys, narrowing your focus to one category helps you take action without the overwhelm. You’re not just collecting information—you’ve found the leak.
Check out the full podcast episode here
You’ll learn how to sort your spending into patterns, ask the right questions, and move from vague guilt to focused progress. With biblical encouragement and a simple action step, Ralph equips you to trade financial confusion for clarity—and start stewarding your money with greater confidence, peace, and purpose.
Chapters:
- 00:11 - Understanding Your Spending Habits
- 02:02 - Tackling Financial Overwhelm
- 03:22 - Identifying Financial Leaks
- 05:07 - Identifying Your Primary Leak
- 06:35 - Identifying Financial Leaks
- 07:05 - Introduction to Financial Planning
Takeaways:
- Tracking your spending can feel overwhelming, but it’s the first step to understanding where your money is actually going, trust me!
- Identifying your biggest financial leak is crucial; it can be those sneaky little expenses we don't even think about, like that extra coffee run.
- Remember, being aware of spending without taking action can just lead to more anxiety, so let’s focus on what really matters!
- When you group similar expenses together, it helps to see patterns and where you might be overspending without realizing it.
- True financial stewardship is about focusing on the areas that need the most attention, like pruning a plant, not just random cuts everywhere.
- Today's action item: take a few minutes to review your spending data and pinpoint that one big leak to tackle first.
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00:00 - None
00:11 - Understanding Your Spending Habits
02:02 - Tackling Financial Overwhelm
03:22 - Identifying Financial Leaks
05:07 - Identifying Your Primary Leak
06:35 - Identifying Financial Leaks
07:05 - Introduction to Financial Planning
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Hey, so maybe you took up that challenge yesterday and
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started tracking your spending.
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Are you starting to see where the money goes?
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Now?
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How do you turn that list of expenses into actual insight today?
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Let's talk about the biggest surprise drain on your wallet.
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Hey there, and welcome back to Your Daily Ask Ralph.
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I'm Ralph and I'm so glad you're here.
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As we continue our series, the Joy of Living below your means, helping you to
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break that cycle of financial shame and do with the confidence, and I sure hope
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you're finding these daily steps helpful because let me just tell you something.
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We are building momentum.
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You're building momentum.
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Okay, so maybe you've been tracking your spending.
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Maybe it's only been a day or two, or maybe you're just now
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starting to think about it.
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You might be looking at that list or, or you're imagining it and you're
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feeling a bit overwhelmed again.
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But now in a brand new way, perhaps you're looking at this list and
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you see lots of little expenses and you're thinking, okay, great.
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I spend money everywhere, Ralph, what do I do now?
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Or maybe you're seeing that raw numbers and it's a bit shocking to you, but you're
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not sure which area needs attention first.
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Hey, it's that feeling of having the data but not knowing what to
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do with it or where to focus your energy for the biggest impact.
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That's the struggle, that's the feeling of being lost in the details.
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Unable to see the forest through the trees in your own spending and that.
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Is the single pain point we're tackling today?
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Here's the thing, awareness is fantastic.
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It truly is.
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But awareness without that focused action can lead to just more anxiety.
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Listen, the Bible often speaks about two things, wisdom and discernment.
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It's not just about knowing the facts, but it's about understanding their
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significance, and more importantly, in my opinion, and knowing how to act on them.
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See, trying to fix.
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Every little spending issue all at once.
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It's exhausting and unfortunately, I'm gonna share a little secret with you.
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It usually fails.
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Maybe you've tried it yourself before, but see, true stewardship involves wisely
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identifying the areas where our attention.
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Is most needed.
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It's kind of like pruning a plant.
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Now, I am by no means a botanist or whatever that term would be, but when
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you're pruning a plant, you focus on the branches that are unhealthy
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or those that are hindering growth.
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You don't just start randomly snipping everywhere.
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You wouldn't have much of a plant after a while.
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So how do we move from just having those list of expenses to really
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focusing in and having real insight?
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How do we cut through the noise and find where to focus?
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Well, the single solution is to analyze your track spending, even if you've only
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been doing this for a few days, and I want you to analyze it specifically to identify
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your single biggest financial leak.
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I. Think about that for a second.
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Now, the leak is simply a category or a type of spending where more money is
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flowing out than you realized, or more importantly, maybe more than you intended.
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And oftentimes this is unintentional.
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It could be things like eating out or, or take away coffee.
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It could be those dreaded subscription services that
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you forgot you subscribed to.
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Maybe for you it's impulse buys online or at the checkout could
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even be a specific hobby that's costing you more than you thought.
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Maybe even frequent trips to the convenience store.
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And listen, finding this one main leak that gives you a starting point.
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And if you have a starting point, instead of feeling overwhelmed by
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all your spending, you can focus your initial efforts on plugging that
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biggest hole in your financial bucket.
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And see it makes take a control feel much more manageable.
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So the solution is focus.
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Identify the biggest leak, so you're ready for your one action step.
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Today.
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I want you to grab that notebook or that app where you've
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been tracking your spending.
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Listen, even if you've only have a couple days worth, that's okay.
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Here's what I want you to do.
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I want you to take 10 or 15 minutes.
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And simply review that list.
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I want you to look for patterns.
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I want you to group similar expenses together.
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For example, put all the food and maybe the restaurant costs together, maybe all
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those coffees or all that entertainment or all those online shopping trips.
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And then you've gotta step back and ask yourself, what
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one category jumps out at you?
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Which one adds up to more than you made a thought?
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Which one feels like the most?
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Unintentional or least valuable spending, and that's what I want you to do next.
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I want you to circle it or make a note of that, because guess what?
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That's your primary leak that you're gonna focus in on for now.
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So now you're asking Ralph, why this targeted action?
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I don't understand?
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And here's why.
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Because it directly combats that, that pain of feeling overwhelmed by the
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data, it's so easy to feel overwhelmed.
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But if we focus on that one big leak, it gives you clarity.
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And it gives you a priority, something to work on.
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And instead of vaguely worrying about overspending, because
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that will bog you down and that will make you have more anxiety.
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But if you do this, you'll have a specific area that you know needs attention, and
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it turns that information that you've been collecting into actionable insight
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making the next steps much clearer.
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Well, let's pray together.
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Father God, thank you for the light that reveals truth.
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Even truth about our own very habits.
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Lord, as my friend listening reviews their spending today, I just ask
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that you grant them your wisdom.
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Lord, grant them discernment.
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Help them to see clearly without judgment or condemnation where their resources
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might be leaking away unintentionally.
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Give them.
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Insight to identify that single area where their attention is most needed
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right now, Lord, and grant them courage to acknowledge it and the
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motivation to address it with your help.
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And Lord, may this process lead to better stewardship and greater peace,
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and we ask this in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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Alright, well I want you to take those few minutes today, review
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your tracking and find that leak.
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I want you to identify that leak and listen.
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Don't beat yourself up about it, just identify it.
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'cause as I say on the show all the time, knowledge is power.
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And listen, you're making fantastic progress on this journey and definitely
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join me back here tomorrow and ask gr We've prayed, we've defined enough, we've
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practiced gratitude, we've tracked our leaking, and we've identified that leak.
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Now it's time to put a plan together.
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So tomorrow we tackle action item number six, and I don't
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want you to let the B word.
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Scare you.
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We'll keep it straightforward and painless, and if today's episode helped
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you gain clarity, I would encourage you to pass it along to someone else.
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You can find resources and links and the show notes@askralph.com.
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So until tomorrow, I want to encourage you, keep seeking
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his wisdom in all things.
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Stay financially savvy.
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God bless you, and have a truly great day.
