We call them "small" because they go unnoticed. A coffee, a sandwich, a quick errand, a cheap online purchase. Individually, they seem harmless. We tell ourselves it's nothing, that we have to live. Yet, it is often they that create this strange impression of seeing money slip away without knowing where.
The logic of micro-habits
A one-time expense is easy to understand. A repeated expense becomes a habit. And it is this transformation that weighs. We don't spend 3 euros once, we spend 3 euros every day, or several times a week. The brain retains the small sum, but not the repetition. That's where the gap is created: we evaluate the act, not the rhythm.
A gentle, almost invisible accumulation
Small expenses never alert. They don't create a spike on the account statement, they don't trigger reflection. They pile up, a bit like grains of sand that we just forget, until they form a pile. It is not the expense that is the problem, but its invisibility.
Live normally, but consciously
It is not about stopping daily pleasures. It is about seeing them. When an expense comes back often, it ends up representing a real part of the budget. By looking at it, we take back control: we choose when we want to treat ourselves, instead of undergoing a rhythm we never questioned.
Small expenses as indicators
They say a lot of things: fatigue, need for comfort, lack of preparation, absence of anticipation. By observing them, we understand our daily life better. We see what is missing: breaks, time, organization, or sometimes simply a desire for softness.
Rethink the place we want to give them
The goal is not to reduce everything, but to arbitrate. Maybe a takeaway coffee every morning is a real pleasure. Maybe another item eats up more. Giving an intention back to small expenses is enough to dispel the impression that money flies away without us being able to act.
Small expenses count, yes, but not because they are dangerous. They count because they tell a part of our life. And once we see them, they stop escaping us.