Silly Ways You Waste Money

I remember walking into my bank several years ago in a huff. I had been charged an overdraft fee and I was annoyed with all these “fees”. I wanted to see if the Account Representative could remove the fee just this one time. It wasn’t a mistake or anything. I had overdrawn my account fair and square. At that time, I lived under the spell of financial oblivion and a pesky sense of entitlement that often poked its head when it came to MY money. But, I wanted THEM to do something about it. And, they did.

The bank manager came over and suggested that I sign up for Overdraft Protection, which would reduce my bounced check fee from $35 to $10. But that wasn’t the coolest thing that I learned that day. He also showed me my bank statement, and pointed to the bottom right of the page—the total overdraft charges per year box. I was shocked to see that I had spent about $400 in overdraft charges the past year. That was a mini-vacation! That was a crazy shopping spree. That was wonderful birthday gifts for my family and friends. It was also a huge lesson in how I had to wake up and pay attention if I really wanted to get a hold of my finances.

I started thinking about other areas where I had literally just let my money go down the tubes. And I know when I shared my frustration at myself with my friends, they related in a way that only reinforced my theory that you have to WAKE up to really watch your money.

I know this sounds like complete common sense. But think about it. Think about all the times you’ve gotten a parking ticket, a speeding ticket, a late fee, overdraft fee, or had to pay a $200+ towing fee. Argh! As victimized as many of us feel in these situations, the truth is, they are totally preventable. We just have to pay attention and decide that we won’t put ourselves at risk for a ticket, a late fee, etc. etc.

I can say this because I practice this. I used to get a parking ticket every month in San Francisco, and I would get so mad about it! But, then I decided that I was not going to get another ticket. Instead of parking when I wasn’t sure about the restrictions, I made sure that I parked in a spot where I knew for SURE I wouldn’t get ticketed. I had to walk a little more, but I never got another ticket.

The next chance you get, grab your monthly bank statement, credit card statement, and highlight your late fees, overdraft charges, ticket fees, etc. Notice how much you have spent—see what the damage is. Trust me, it’s a wake up call to see what the actual cost is for these useless charges.

And after that, it’s a matter of paying attention to make sure you will never ever again be the sucker who’s getting duped. You could save hundreds of dollars a year with this one simple exercise!