I was going through my finances this morning and came across 2 pretty big mistakes. The first was with my credit card. I pay my balance every month, and it has been quite a while since I have ever been hit with a finance charge. However this month I was double-checking my bills and noticed that I paid a total of $390 towards my card...but the balance due was $397! Of course now the billing cycle for the previous period is closed and I can't pay any more money into it, so because I paid $7 under what I should have, I'm going to be hit with a finance charge.
Ugh!
Worse, I quickly calculated my average daily balance to be around $250. $250 hit with a finance charge for my stupid $7 mistake.
I also found a pretty bad leak in my budget. I discovered that I have been paying an average of $57 a month on liquor. My evening pre-dinner drink is really creating a huge leak in our spending. Do I really need to spend $57 a month on alcohol? I don't think so! Starting immediately I am going to switch to a nonalcoholic beverage after work. We'll save the alcohol for wine over nice dinners.
I think that these two may be related. To have paid $390 on a $397 bill, maybe I was drunk!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Two big mistakes, related?
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2 comments:
Missing that $7 will get a small finance charge, but at least you covered the minimum. I'm paying hundreds per month in finance charges and it sucks that this money isn't going directly towards principle.
I don't think your other thing is a mistake. If you enjoy doing something and it is not causing a problem with the budget, why not enjoy it? Stop kicking yourself over the $7 bucks though.
Thanks, Jim. I'm not kicking myself over it, but I sure was mad at myself this morning when I discovered the mistake!
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