Americans Waste $14B a Year in Overlooked Charges

New York ( TheStreet) -- How much money are you losing to unnecessary charges you've forgotten about? If you’re anything like many Americans, the answer falls somewhere between “some” and “a lot.” Here’s what you need to know about these overlooked charges and how to keep them from spoiling your finances in the coming year, courtesy of Bank of America’s Better Money Habits.

These so-called "gray charges" are recurring fees that you’ve either forgotten about or didn’t even realize you were paying. Some of these come from simple errors, like neglecting to cancel that gym membership you never got around to using. Others come from nastier sources like companies that make it intentionally difficult to cancel services. Not that we’re naming any names here.

By definition, gray charges are generally small enough to slide into the background noise of achecking account. Anything expensive stands out and gets taken care of, but $20 here and $30 there is easy to overlook. Over time, this can really add up. And what a waste. This is money spent on something you either don’t want or aren’t getting, but approximately 66.5 million Americans pay it.

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