Your mortgage is one of your most important — and costliest — monthly expenses, but you could be making it harder on yourself than it needs to be. Lots of people with mortgages have bad savings habits that are making it harder for them to pay their monthly bills.

Honeymoon fees, bad interest rates and lifestyle creep can all impact your savings. Read below to learn more about some of the common savings account traps that many homeowners fall into.

• Honeymoon and hidden fees: You can start many savings accounts without having to pay any upfront fees. But lots of people open an account without fully understanding the terms and are surprised later to find additional fees tacked on. Honeymoon rates can be another shock. Banks sometimes offer generous interest rates at the beginning that change over time. In either case, the amount of cash you have on hand could be much lower than you expect.
• Letting your money sit: Most of us assume that putting money into a savings account keeps it safe. How could it be any other way? While that's basically true, there's important information you need to know. Banks often pay you interest on your savings, but the rate tends to be lower than the rate at which day-to-day costs are increasing. That means if you don't do anything with your money, it's actually losing value.
• Overspending on a new house: Buying a home is an exciting new step in your life but many people — especially first-time homebuyers — make the mistake of paying too much for their home. Most financial advisors recommend keeping your mortgage payments at or below 30% of your income. Failing to do so could cause you to pay more than you're able to and create financial problems later.
• Lifestyle creep: This occurs when people start spending more money on things they don't really need as their income increases. The result is that even individuals with a high income often don't have enough money for necessities, leaving them living paycheck to paycheck. Lifestyle creep can impact your ability to pay your mortgage, as too much of your income gets devoted to nonessentials.

It can be tough to know which behaviours are putting a drain on your savings. It's important to have this information on hand to know how to mitigate it and make sure you can keep making payments for the things that matter to you.

At Smart Money Wealth Management, we're committed to providing affordable financial advice and wealth management services to all Australians. Contact us today to get started with a free consultation.