Take Control Of Future Expenses With Cost Avoidance
Cost avoidance means preventing expenses before they happen. Mansa Musa explains how maintenance, smart buying, behavior choices, and strong credit shrink future bills and protect your financial stability.
Woman driver using mobile phone during problem car.
Getty Royalty FreeIt’s Take Control Tuesday, and Mansa Musa from MoneySmartLife.org is back with a strategy most families overlook: cost avoidance.
Not cutting back, skipping purchases or calling something “savings” because it was on sale.
Cost avoidance is different. It’s money you never have to spend because you made a smart move earlier. For most working families, money is limited. There’s often more month than money. So instead of constantly reacting to bills, Mansa challenges us to prevent some of them from showing up at all.
What Cost Avoidance Looks Like
Maintain your car. Fix small issues at home before they grow. Practice energy-efficient habits. Small upkeep today prevents big repairs tomorrow.
Another example? Buy quality when you have to buy anyway.
Instead of replacing cheap shoes, coats, or work clothes over and over, invest once in durability. You avoid repeat purchases. You reduce long-term spending. (And yes, this works best for adults — kids outgrow everything.)
Mansa also highlights a category people rarely connect to money: behavior.
Speeding tickets. DUIs. Ignoring health until it becomes a crisis.
Those aren’t just one-time costs. They create years of higher insurance, medical bills, and lost income.
Getty ImagesCost Avoidance Silent Leaks
Late fees. Convenience fees. Subscription creep. Small penalties that quietly drain working-class households. When you step back and review them, you often find money slipping away.
Even your credit score plays a role. Strong credit lowers what you pay for insurance and borrowing. Maintaining it becomes another form of cost avoidance.
Here’s the bottom line:
Cost avoidance doesn’t always show up as extra money in your account. It shows up as bills that never arrive. It changes the math of your life by shrinking future expenses before they happen. As Mansa reminds us: Costs avoided today are money you don’t spend tomorrow.
Listen to our Conversation Below
About Randi Myles
I’m a child of God with a lot to say.
Here you’ll find conversations with artists, authors, speakers, and teachers across the faith community. You’ll also find pieces of my own journey—colorful, rich, and sometimes really hard. I come here looking for answers, hope, and a place to breathe.
My mom wanted me to write a book. I’m working on it. So yes, you may catch me figuring things out in real time.
These days, I’m learning how to balance a joyful, fast-moving work life with a personal life that’s stretching my faith. I trust God to carry me to victory—so welcome to my life.
~ Randi
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