We all think we do the best we can when it comes to our finances. We think we are saving money, but we never sit down and do math. You may be surprised if you do.

Here are the top five money-saving myths that fall for:

1. Savings accounts save us money

Having money in a savings account for emergencies is a good idea. It is easy to obtain, but not too easy. But if you want to save money or make your money work for you, old-fashioned savings account is not necessarily the best way to go. First, you should look at what give in interest rates. For example, if you have a student loan with 5 percent interest rate and savings account to 3% interest rate, your savings have cost you about 2 percent. You would be better off paying off that student loan with savings account.

Then if you never use the item that you are actually losing money. This may apply to the transaction of shopping and shopping in bulk. It does not matter whether you bought your daughter 35 pairs of shoes a garage sale for $ 1 each. If she had only two pairs of them, I just lost $ 33.

2. Refinancing your home pays off

No matter what you do, you can save money. You just need to spend less than you make. If you can spend more money and more money, you are not saving anything. In fact, you may even be spending more. Do not wait until you have more money to start saving. You must start now.

3. Savings accounts save us money

3. Savings accounts save us money

Having money in a savings account for emergencies is a good idea. It is easy to obtain, but not too easy. But if you want to save money or make your money work for you, old-fashioned savings account is not necessarily the best way to go. First, you should look at what give in interest rates. For example, if you have a student loan with 5 percent interest rate and savings account to 3% interest rate, your savings have cost you about 2 percent. You would be better off paying off that student loan with savings account.

It goes the other way around too. If your debt is less than the interest rate on your savings, your money works better savings. But with today’s interest rates are so low, your debt is probably higher than the amount of interest earned on your savings account. This means that they are actually losing money.

4. Zero percent interest rate saves money

Then if you never use the item that you are actually losing money. This may apply to the transaction of shopping and shopping in bulk. It does not matter whether you bought your daughter 35 pairs of shoes a garage sale for $ 1 each. If she had only two pairs of them, I just lost $ 33.

5. Zero percent interest rate saves money

When you take the card with zero percent repayment term, you’re saving money. You are only delaying payments for items. You can not save and not spend more. But if you do not pay the money back within the zero percent period, will pay interest on those items. This will cost you money.