According to a recently published study available at debt.com, 90 percent of Americans believe everyone should have a budget.

Last week, a Webb City, Missouri, couple living on a fixed income who didn’t closely track their finances contacted the Better Business Bureau in Springfield, Missouri, about mystery charges posted to their bank account.

Stephanie Garland of the BBB spoke to the couple and said the lack of a detailed budget and good communication cost them over $1,400. “The husband just assumed that, oh, my wife has a new subscription for makeup for magazines or something, but they never actually communicated on it. And then this continued, and it wasn’t until last week that they sat down and looked at the budget together and said, hey, do you know what this is and she said no, I’ve been seeing this and thought this was you.”

The couple didn’t recognize the bogus charges for six months and could not get their money back.