Most people who "cannot save" are not bad with money. They are leaking it in amounts too small to notice.

I sat down with a friend last month who swore she had nothing left after rent. We pulled three months of statements. No big disasters. Just:

• Two streaming plans she had not opened since March

• A "free trial" gym app still charging $12.99

• DoorDash twice a week because she was too tired to cook, about $28 a pop

• A cloud storage plan for a phone she no longer owns

That is roughly $250 a month. $3,000 a year. Enough to get a third of the way to a $10K cash buffer without a raise, a side hustle, or a personality transplant.

The trick is not a 47-tab budget spreadsheet. It is one 20-minute pass through your last 30 days of charges, then one automatic transfer the morning after payday, even if it is $40.

If you want the rest of the system (the money map, the 7 paycheck leaks, and a 90-day calendar), it is in The First $10K. But you can do this part tonight with a bank app and a notes file.

What is the dumbest recurring charge you have found in the last year?