Comments on: 7 ways procrastination has cost me money

By: mich

mich — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:28:19 +0000

I forgot to return a movie to Blockbuster and they automatically charge your card for the price of the movie. Well this movie was part of a set (a television series) so the charge was $65 for the one disc. I could have still returned it within 30 days and got reimbursed, but I didnt do this either. So now I am out. I have not filled out rebate forms for multiple items including $150 for my laptop as well

By: plonkee

plonkee — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:09:35 +0000

Thanks for including this.

My procrastination isn’t really getting any better, although I am remembering to claim expenses. Now if only the company would remember to reimburse me, I’d be away.

By: Danny

Danny — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:27:57 +0000

Yeah, I just missed the postmark date for a $20 mail in rebate. Oops.

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:39:03 +0000

Thanks for this! After reading the list of tips, I was motivated to finally fill out and send in the rebate form for a cell phone I got last month. That’s $30 more towards the credit card debt. :)

By: Mary McK.

Mary McK. — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:27:01 +0000

Like Quotes, I’m finding that putting everything on my calendar (I use Time & Chaos) has greatly reduced lateness-related issues for me. There are few things more frustrating than discovering I’m paying for my own lack of planning.

As a good friend of mine recently put it: “Never put off ’til tomorrow what you can do today, because tomorrow might be a mo fo”.

By: FinanceIsPersonal.com

FinanceIsPersonal.com — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:48:06 +0000

I’ve got a story of my own here… Once I ordered a new Nvidia Geforce 2 Graphics Card (those were hot stuff in the day!), and it came dead on arrival. So I got an RMA form filled it out, and just didn’t get around to shipping it forever, and two weeks later when I finally sent it uot, the RMA was expired…there’s $100 out of my pocket. oops.

By: Quotes

Quotes — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:39:48 +0000

Hey lazy man. We all fight procrastination from time to time. I find that working to a schedule helps. If I intend to do a task when I get to it, I never do. But if I plan to do a task at 10:30, then at 10:30 I do it.

I’ll leave you with a quote from William James: “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.”

By: The Financial Blogger

The Financial Blogger — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:24:55 +0000

I guess the most important part would be to procrastinate on your financial planning. Many people think that retirement (and it’s planning) comes at the age of 50. However, we should all start our financial planning in our 20’s…

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:12:12 +0000

I procrastinated on dropping a class I sucessfully tested out of. I found out that couldn’t get a refund because I missed the date by 2 days! Argh that was $600 down the drain!

By: Susanna

Susanna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:12:29 +0000

I don’t even like to think about the amount of money procrastination cost me. The worst was probably the drivers license fiasco, which depleted my savings account.

When I moved to a new apartment in Atlanta, I forgot to update the address on my drivers license. So I didn’t get the notice that I needed to update my license plate sticker, and I got ticketed for having an expired plate.

Knowing what a procrastinator I am, I should’ve set things right immediately. But I didn’t, and I forgot to pay the ticket. Because I never updated the address on my license the city couldn’t contact me to remind me to pay the ticket.

Several months later I moved to North Carolina. When I went to get a new drivers license, I discovered that my old one had been suspended. So a lot of paperwork ensued trying to pay the fees and get it reinstated. Finally, I was back up to date.

Unfortunately, NC does not look kindly on people who have had their licenses suspended, no matter the reason. I had to pay the highest car insurance rate – it was almost as much as my rent. Before I moved to NC I was putting $200 a month in savings. After a year living in NC, even with a decent raise, my savings were nearly gone and I’d racked up quite a bit of credit card debt.

I’m still a procrastinator, and unfortunately it still costs me money. But I have learned one lesson: always, always do your civic paperwork immediately!