Sun Money team’s biggest money mistakes that cost us £4.4k – how YOU can avoid making them

WHAT’S your biggest money ‘mare? We’ve all got one… even The Sun’s Money team. From parking ticket blunders that could easily have been avoided to getting “bankxiety”, we’ve made some blunders in our time – don’t make the same mistakes as we did and save yourself £4.4k. Even the seasoned money pros make money mistakes – check ours out Credit: Getty These money blunders have left us £4.4k out of pocket – including a £3k savings blunder Credit: Getty The Sun’s Money team have oodles of personal finance knowledge, from mortgages to taxes and pensions to savings. And even top finance whizzes can get it wrong sometimes. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! Gordon Brown has been blasted for a decision he made when he was Chancellor when he sold off 395 tonnes of gold bullion. Had he kept hold of it, the stash, which was worth $3.5billion at the time, would have soared to $50.6billion – an expensive mistake. And James Watt, who used to be the CEO of beer company BrewDog, wrote down one wrong digit for his bank account – which meant a £51.2million payment he was due from closing a mega deal went AWOL. It was paid into a stranger’s bank account – but luckily, he recovered it back. Luckily, our big blunders haven’t cost THIS much – but they’re likely mistakes you would make too. Lucy Andrews – Deputy Money Editor (features) Lucy Andrews never used to check her bank account – but learned her lesson Credit: Darren Fletcher “When I was in my early 20s, I NEVER used to look at my bank account. Most read in Money “I had ‘banxiety’, where you worry about how much you are spending so avoid looking at your balance. “I was on minimum wage and having too much fun going out with my pals. “Instead of budgeting for fun, I used to say “yes” to any event, dinner or drinks. “That landed me in hot water. “When my student bank account fee-free overdraft ran out, I slowly began to rack up big interest fees because my account was in the red. “I had to call my mum, tail between my legs, to see if she could lend me the cash to get me out of my overdraft – I paid every penny back. “It cost me about £1,000 in total. “Now, I make sure to check my bank account multiple times a week. “This is so I can cut back if I overspend.” James Flanders – Business Affairs Editor James Flanders got caught out by the temptation of a free trial… it cost him £350 Credit: Jon Bond “I write about saving money every day, but for a whole year, I was throwing cash down the drain without even realising it. “My biggest weakness? The dreaded ‘free trial’. “A couple of years ago, I signed up for everything: a premium fitness app, a next-day delivery pass for a clothing site, and a niche streaming service I only used to watch one specific documentary. “I told myself I’d cancel them all before the 30 days were up. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. “Because the payments were relatively small amounts – £7.99 here, £12.99 there – they completely blended in with my usual monthly direct debits. “I just wasn’t paying close enough attention to the smaller outgoings. “It wasn’t until I sat down to do a proper audit of my bank statements 12 months later that the penny dropped. I was paying for subscriptions I hadn’t opened or used in nearly a year. “It cost me around £350 in total – cash I could have easily put towards a holiday. “Now, the second I sign up for a free trial, I immediately go into my phone and set a calendar alarm for the day before it expires. “I also do a strict direct debit audit every three months to make sure no ‘ghost subscriptions’ are draining my account.” Blathnaid Corless – Senior Money Reporter Blathnaid Corless used to make a savings blunder that cost you £3k a year Credit: Darren Fletcher “I used to be awful at saving – I assumed it was because I just wasn’t earning enough and everything was too expensive. “But really I was just living beyond my means without even realising. “I would separate my rent and bills from my salary every month, and ambitiously put around £200 or so into my savings. “But then I’d spend and spend on clothes, dinners and drinks out, multiple coffees a week – you name it. “I saw my £200 in savings simply as a buffer or a personal overdraft that I could dip into whenever I needed to. “If anything – it was making me spend MORE than if the money was still sat in my current account. “Once I started clamping down on my spending – limiting my coffees out to one a week, takeaways to once a month, and wearing more of what I had in my wardrobe – I saw my savings climb to over £3,000 in a year. “In theory, that mistake cost me £3k a year.” Emily Mee – Money Reporter Emily Mee forgot to make a note of a key date in her diary – it cost her £110 Credit: Darren Fletcher “One of my most frustrating money mistakes was fairly recently. “It turns out, even when you’re a money reporter you can still fall foul of common errors that cost a fortune. “I forgot to make note of when my parking permit was due to run out and was slapped with a parking fine worth £110 while I was on holiday. “You can pay a discounted fee of £55 if you pay up within 14 days, but I was away and missed the deadline. “That £110 definitely hurt – but it was a reminder to always keep a note in your calendar of when anything is up for renewal. “The same goes for your MOT and car insurance, too – if your MOT is overdue and you continue to drive, you could be hit with a £1,000 fine. “And if you let your car insurance renew automatically, you could end up paying more. “Luckily I had made a note of when my insurance was due and managed to haggle this down by around £100.” Comment now