We all have niggling little vices that cost us a bomb year-in, year-out. Whether it’s a computer game obsession, a weakness for buying every new trend featured in Style magazine, that cheeky Saturday night (…. and Friday night… and possibly Thursday night) takeaway, or something entirely more filthy like smoking - we allow these habits to gnaw away at our bank account and try to pop them to the back of minds. We’ll excuse the over-spend with peppy little thoughts of “Oh well, we all deserve a treat now and again” or “At least it means some of my pay check went on myself this month”, and before we know it we’re having to sit on hold for 30 minutes to British Gas as we’ve defaulted on a direct debit.

Well Leeds Building Society have come up with a snazzy little app to shock us into realising just how much these little vices are setting us back. Spread across 8 of the most common habits we typically splurge on (including takeaways, alcohol, cigarettes, nights out, beauty, and technology) you can tot up your total weekly spend and a handy percentage calculator will show how many other people are falling into the same trap. Once you’ve spilled the beans on each of the 8 featured habits, you press the button to kick your habits and the app will give you a yearly summary of your spend.

Handily this Kick My Habits tool will not only calculate what this horrific sum totals per year, but also what extra money it could generate if placed in a savings account. This is based on an average savings rate of 1.65% (as worked out by the guys over at Money Supermarket).

I worked mine out based on my pre-pregnancy weekly spend. I smoked, I drank, I was (am still am) a sucker for make-up and beauty products and have been known to take the odd shortcut at meal-times… the cumulative total was £4576 per year (plus £75.50 extra I could have saved). That’s all money that could go towards a deposit on a new house or towards the children’s futures.

Now I’m pregnant, I’ve ditched the fags and booze but am still giving £60 per week away to the guys at Subway, Superdrug and Vue Cinema. That’s still £3.1 grand (plus £50 extra)!

I’m not advocating giving up the odd G&T down the pub, or doing away with date-night’s - but it would be nice to bump up our savings and put it towards an extra holiday, a new sofa, or tuck it into the university fund. There’s so much Craig and I want to do for the children (including the big move to Oz when they’re primary school age) that it certainly makes you think about what January 2015 could look like if I went a few weeks this year without a nail varnish or two…

So over to you! What’s your guilty pleasure, and what’s it setting you back every year?

In association with Leeds Building Society