Creating and sticking to a budget can be a chore, though according to a recent survey published at debt.com, nine out of ten Americans believe that you should have one.

In addition to helping you track your spending, budgets can help you figure out when you’ve been scammed. A Webb City, Missouri, couple recently contacted the Better Business Bureau regarding suspicious bank charges.

The BBB’s Stephanie Garland says the couple has no idea how they were taken advantage of. “They are not sure how in the world the scammer got their bank account information. But they did start to notice in December of last year, there was a payment coming out every month. And it was a bi-monthly payment. One was for a smaller amount, around six or seven dollars. And then the other one was for a more significant amount of a couple of hundred dollars.”

It took six months and over $1400 for the couple to figure out the scam.