5 Signs You’re Losing Money Every Month — and How To Find the Leaks
You should be in a better position financially. After all, you work hard, pay your bills and save whatever you can, whenever you can. But there’s never enough left at the end of the month. You’re hardly alone — according to a 2025 Federal Reserve report, about 19% of U.S. adults say they spend more than they earn, and another 30% say their income and spending are about the same.
But being in good company is cold comfort. You want to fix the problem.
Think of your finances as a boat. You’ve tried to build it sturdy. But tiny leaks you can’t see are slowly filling it with water. Plugging those leaks is essential to staying afloat — you just have to know where they are.
Fortunately, a powerful, all-in-one financial tool called MoneyLion can help you spot those leaks early and take action — and you can get started in just a few minutes.
Sign #1: You're Not Really Sure Where Your Paycheck Goes
Paydays should be the best days of the month. Yet once you’ve covered your bills, most of your money is gone — like a giant bite was taken out of your income. If you’re not tracking your money in real time, you don’t know where those leaks are coming from — let alone how to plug them.
How to find it and fix it: With MoneyLion, you get a bird’s-eye view of all your accounts in one easy-to-access, centralized location. By automatically tracking your spending, MoneyLion shows you where your money is going — so you can spot patterns and help stop the slow leak of excess spending. No spreadsheets. No logging into multiple apps. It’s all in one place.
Sign #2: You’re Constantly Logging Into Multiple Apps To Track Your Money
You’d like to think you have a complete picture of your financial situation. But if you’re bouncing between your bank app, credit card portal, loan servicer and budgeting tool just to piece together what’s happening, you’re working too hard — and it's a sign you lack financial visibility.
How to find it and fix it: MoneyLion is designed to bring your financial information into one place, making it easy to link external accounts, monitor balances and track spending trends in real time. The app even adapts to your habits over time, helping you identify potential blind spots — and take steps to improve them.
Sign #3: You’re Regularly Short Before Payday
When it comes to stretching your money between paychecks, you may feel like you’re constantly bending to make it work. You skip expenses, juggle credit cards and hope nothing unexpected happens. These behaviors are clear signs of a cash flow leak.
How to find it and fix it: Once you qualify, MoneyLion’s Instacash® feature lets you access up to $500 of your paycheck early. No interest. No credit check. To be clear, this won’t fix the underlying leak on its own. But it can help you avoid spiraling into debt over a short-term shortfall while you repair your finances. Used responsibly, it can also help you avoid late fees, overdraft charges or high-interest debt when you’re covering a short-term gap.
At the same time, tracking your cash flow through your MoneyLion account can help you identify why you’re coming up short — and make adjustments before the next payday crunch.
Sign #4: You Get Quoted Higher Interest Rates Than You Expect
A low credit score doesn’t just feel discouraging — it can cost you real money. If you’re consistently quoted interest rates that seem higher than expected, your credit score may be part of the reason. Lower scores often mean higher interest rates, larger deposits and fewer borrowing options. You could end up paying more on everything from car loans to apartment rentals.
How to find it and fix it: Through MoneyLion, eligible members1 can apply for a Credit Builder loan of up to $1,000 with no hard credit check. As you make scheduled payments, they’re reported to all three credit bureaus, helping you build a positive payment history over time2.
More than half of Credit Builder Plus members have seen their credit scores increase by up to 27 points within 60 days3. Once the loan is paid off, the funds held in your Credit Reserve Account are returned to you.
Monitoring your accounts and overall financial picture through your MoneyLion account can also help you understand how credit fits into your broader financial plan.
Sign #5: You’re Paying Fees or High Interest Without Reviewing Your Options
To build anything — from a powerful ship to a strong financial future — you need the right tools. If you signed up for bank accounts, loans or credit cards years ago and have not revisited them since, that’s a sign you could be paying unnecessary fees or higher interest than needed. Using outdated or ill-fitting financial products can create money leaks through fees, high interest rates and missed opportunities.
How to find it and fix it: With MoneyLion, you’re matched with financial product offers tailored to your unique needs and goals, including personal loans, credit-builder loans and banking options. Creating a free account in the MoneyLion app gives you access to the platform’s core money-management tools, so you can get a clear view of your situation before exploring other products. Instead of searching on your own for solutions that may not fit, you’ll see options designed to help plug your leaks and move you forward.
How To Get Started
Want smoother financial sailing? MoneyLion can help you stretch your paycheck, build your credit and better understand your money. It takes just a few minutes to sign up and get started.
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. You should consult your own financial, legal, and tax advisors before engaging in any transaction. Information, including hypothetical projections of finances, may not take into account taxes, commissions, or other factors which may significantly affect potential outcomes. This material should not be considered an offer or recommendation to buy or sell a security. While information and sources are believed to be accurate, MoneyLion does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information or source provided herein and is under no obligation to update this information. For more information about MoneyLion, please visit https://www.moneylion.com/terms-and-conditions/.
Instacash® is an optional service offered by MoneyLion. Your available Instacash Advance limit will be displayed to you in the MoneyLion mobile app and may change from time to time. Your limit will be based on your direct deposits, account transaction history, and other factors, as determined by MoneyLion. Expedited delivery requires Turbo Fee. See Instacash Terms and Conditions for more information and eligibility requirements.
MoneyLion does not provide, own, control or guarantee third-party products or services accessible through its Marketplace (collectively, “Third-Party Products”). The Third-Party Products are owned, controlled or made available by third parties (the "Third-Party Providers"). Should you choose to purchase any Third-Party Products, the Third-Party Providers’ terms and privacy policies apply to your purchase, so you must agree to and understand those terms. The display on the MoneyLion website, app, or platform of any of a Third-Party Product or Third-Party Provider does not-in any way-imply, suggest, or constitute a recommendation by MoneyLion of that Third-Party Product or Third-Party Financial Provider. MoneyLion may receive compensation from third parties for referring you to the third party, their products or to their website.
1 Credit Builder Plus membership ($19.99/mo) unlocks eligibility for Credit Builder loans and other exclusive services.
Credit Builder loans have an annual percentage rate (APR) ranging from 5.99% APR to 29.99% APR, are offered by affiliates of MoneyLion and subject to approval. The Credit Builder loan may require a portion of the loan proceeds to be deposited into a Credit Reserve Account maintained by ML Wealth LLC and held in non-marginable securities by DriveWealth LLC, member SIPC and FINRA. Not available in all states.
Credit Reserve Accounts Are Not FDIC Insured • No Bank Guarantee • Investments May Lose Value. For important information and disclaimers relating to the MoneyLion Credit Reserve Account, see Investment Account FAQs and ML Wealth LLC’s FORM ADV. Please also refer to your LoanAgreement.
Credit score improvement is not guaranteed. Credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus, and on-time payment history is only one of many factors that such bureaus consider. Your credit score may be negatively impacted by other financial decisions you make, or by activities or services you engage in with other financial services organizations.
2 A Credit Builder loan may or may not improve your credit score. Credit scores are the result of your personal credit practices.
3 Credit score improvement is not guaranteed. A soft credit pull will be conducted that has no impact to your credit score. Credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus. Data was sourced from credit score data from over 83,077 members with an active loan between 01/01/2020 to 12/31/2024. MoneyLion is not a Credit Services Organization. Credit Builder Loan is an optional service offered by MoneyLion.