What Are You Owed?

When you’re trying to balance the budget in the hopes of finding a better financial future for you and your family, there is one crucial area you may overlook. While you’re filling in your income and expenditure, seeing what you have left at the end of the month, and understanding where your money goes - this overlooked area could make a crucial difference.

What are you owed?

You might think on the surface that there’s relatively little that you’re owed. If you receive your wages every month and all seems to be in order, you might think that that’s the end of the story and you don’t need to be concerned.

The truth is, any adult is often owed money from a variety of sources at any one time. As life is busy and few of us have the spare mental energy to keep a logbook of all our outstanding monies, it’s easy - over the years - for these amounts to be forgotten. They often take time and effort we don’t feel we have to track them down. 

However, if you do have money owed to you, then you’re doing your finances no favors by continuing to overlook it. While it might not add up to enough money to solve all of your financial concerns, if you look in the right places, the amounts could add up to a chunk of change that will make a big difference. So where should you be looking?

#1 - Compensation

Compensation comes in many forms. It comes from an online store when they make an error with your order, leaving you waiting for it to be rectified. Then there is the more conventional form of compensation that comes via a car accident lawyer in the aftermath of a crash. Or it could just be a company compensating you for loss of time or not supplying an agreed service, such as your broadband not working as it should, or your phone line having excessive static on it.

It’s not petty to chase down these areas of compensation; they’re all about righting a wrong. If you have suffered through a misfortune that was due to the fault of another person, then you’re well within your rights to ensure you get what you deserve. 

#2 - Outstanding Loans

A friend asking if you can spot them $10 for dinner; your sister asking to borrow $100 which she’ll pay back on her next payday; another friend promising to pay you back the $50 for the concert tickets but never handing over the cash - they all add up. Just there there are three situations that many of us find ourselves in, totaling $160 - or at least 20 hours work if you earn the minimum wage.

Asking people for money back doesn’t need to be awkward. Do it by email, framing the problem as an embarrassed request, stressing that your own finances are really tight and anything they could offer back would be hugely appreciated. You loaned it on the expectation you would see that cash again; don’t be embarrassed about getting what rightfully belongs to you.

#3 - Work Hours

We mentioned your paycheck, but how often do you scrutinize what exactly you have been paid for? It’s worth making sure everything - including any overtime or late nights - has been paid as it should have been. If you find a discrepancy, raise it with the accounting team at your work; they should rectify it ASAP.