My interest in personal finance started at a fairly young age. After reading The Total Money Makeover at age twenty I was hooked. Although my love for smart financial moves has helped me avoid any major debt I am still far from perfect.
In fact, over the past year I’ve started to develop some pretty bad money habits. Here are three things I do that are in definite need of improvement.
# 1 – Bill Procrastination
It pains me to admit it but there have been several times, especially here recently, that I have waited until the last minute last second to pay my bills.
Over the course of the past year I’ve learned what being a single mother is like. And, unfortunately for me this means relying on a fairly small income. I’ve been hit with some rough months and it’s made keeping up with bills a bit of a challenge.
To be completely honest that’s not the entire reason my bills were paid last minute. Sometimes I had the money sitting in my bank account to cover the bill but waited until the last second to pay it anyway.
# 2 – Not Balancing My Checkbook
Maybe I don’t want to know that I only have twenty bucks in my checking account or maybe I’ve just been plain ole lazy. But, balancing my checkbook sort of slipped to the back-burner over the past year.
To keep myself accountable I actually made a goal a few months ago to balance my checkbook after each transaction.
While I’ve pretty much sucked in this area over the past year I do have some good news. Now that I am making more money I actually like to balance my checkbook!
If work continues the way it has been I can clean up this money sin rather quickly.
# 3 – Wasting Money on Books
Originally I thought buying a Kindle would save me a ton of money over the long run. The problem is that I am such a book lover that if I hear of someone praising a certain title I have to read it. The convenience of Kindle books has cursed me.
I used to be a regular of the library now I am a regular of the Kindle store. I need to set a limit on the books I purchase to one every month or two. I could then take advantage of free Kindle books and hit up the library for my other book needs.
Cleaning Up My Act
The first step to fixing your problems is admitting them, right?
I believe the first two money mistakes on the list stem from not having the amount of money I feel I need in the bank. It makes me not even want to look at my bills or checkbook. Thankfully, freelancing is really starting to improve my money situation.
I am now ready to clean up my act and keep my finances in better (and smarter) working order.
What are your money sins? Is there anything you do that could use some improvement?
Mine used to be Starbucks, but then I bought a milk frother for $2.50 and use it to create foamy milk, so now I make better tasting cafe au lait at home. 🙂
Book are a line item on my budget too. But I usually buy them from Amazon and sell them after I read. Most of the titles I want are not in my library system. But I figure if I buy a book for $15 and sell it a few days later for $12, I’ve only paid $3. I also use Paperbackswap quite a bit for kid’s titles and classics.
I haven’t been to the library in awhile. I got to feeling like I had read everything of interest to me the last time I was there. But by now they may have more variety. I need to do something different book wise. Reselling books sounds like a good idea.
I’m bad with paying for convenience. I will use the ATM at the end of my street instead of driving one mile to my bank.
I used to do that too. Here lately I’ve been using my debit card instead of cash though.
We all have our share of bad money habits but at least you recognize them and that’s the first step in the battle. Amazon is definitely one of my weaknesses, I could spend a fortune there!
Yes, browsing Amazon is bad news for me. Especially when I’m looking for “deals”
I don’t worry too much about the day-to-day spending anymore, which can be both good and bad. For the vast majority of the time my spending stays right in line with my goals just by habit now, but there are certain times where it doesn’t and I’m not always right on top of it. More regular check-ins would probably be beneficial.
That’s good. It sounds like you are pretty on top of things!
Thanks for sharing Alexa 🙂
I am a bill procrastinator as well and will let a month or two fall behind before I pay off a bill. Sometimes, like you, I’ll have the money in the bank but I will be too lazy or forgetful to walk across the street to pay it.
As for balancing my checkbook…fahget about it!! I honestly don’t think I’ve ever tried that in my life!
I love books as well but keep my purchasing pursuits at a minimum by buying only at used book stores and borrowing from the library or friends. it sure saves me a whack of cash!
I think though that my biggest money sin is that I DON”T HAVE ANY MONEY!!!!!!!! But I’m cool with that 🙂
Take care Alexa and all the best.
Lyle
Sounds like we have the same issues Lyle. It bothers to pay my bills late though. I need to get better about just paying them as they come in.
It’s good you recognize what needs adjusting in your life. I need to take some inventory myself. BTW I never balance my checkbook anymore. I just check my balance online a lot.
I check mine online a lot too but the bank I use is soooo slow at posting transactions. It might be a week before a purchase shows up and then I’m screwed.
Thank you for sharing your money sins with us. To be honest I don’t balance a check book. I go online every day. I have the same worries about when I get my Kindle. I think I will be like you and keep buying books.
I have my bills take from out from my account each month on the same day so that has helped me since before I will pay them last minute too.
I have a few things automatically deducted from my checking account – like my car insurance. That way I know that will get paid on time. Definitely wouldn’t want that to cancel.
I am the EXACT same way with the Kindle. And books in general. I am a book junkie. Always have been.
I know it’s just sooo easy to click buy and whoila you have the book you want.
Have you checked to see if your local library system offers kindle books on loan? I live in the Northeast and my county’s library system does. You just “check out” the digital versions right over their website. I’m guilty of spending money on my daughter for things that she doesn’t really need. Just little things here and there like inexpensive toys or books, but it adds up!
I haven’t checked. I am from a small town so I’ve kind of just assumed that my library doesn’t offer kindle books but I could be totally wrong.
I used to do the exact same thing with my daughters when I was married. I would bring them a cheap little “surprise” when I’d pick them up from the babysitter everyday.
I was also going to mention this. Your library might have an e-book lending system (my library’s is called Overdrive). You can download up to five titles at a time. It could definitely save some money!
Alexa, I am the same way with putting off paying certain bills until the last minute, especially big ones, and even when I have $ to cover them. And I put off balancing my checkbook, too, for the same reasons as you. So, you are not alone!
Books and tea should always be free to everyone. It would be so civilized! 😉
~ Christie
I love my kindle too! Have you tried Bookbub.com for free kindle e-books? A lot of them are bestsellers for free or a very small cost.
Also, my library offers e-books for kindle for free, you may wanna check out your local library for any potential freebies.
I’ve increasingly tried to move towards online bill pay so that I do not have to think about my bills. That way I won’t miss them and won’t be scrambling to pay them last minute. Yes it means they are less visible and less on my mind, which comes with it’s own dangers, but overall I think it’s a good way to get past bill procrastination.
I think these are pretty common & excusable money sins. We similarly often wait to pay bills (our dog’s registration with the city is due today), though now just about everything is on autopilot these days so that helps. My money sin is eating out, just from laziness…not a desire to actually eat that particular restaurant’s food. There are a lot of nights I don’t want to cook and take the easy way out.
I used to have so many! These days I try to watch every penny. I have set up direct debits for all my bills so I don’t have to worry about making manual payments as sometimes you can simply forget.
Mine is definitely Starbucks. I love coffee too much. I’m glad they have a rewards program now…makes me feel a little bit better about spending money there.
I don’t balance a checkbook – I just check my account online. Quite the contrast, my mom always balances her checkbook after every transaction. On a weekly basis I used to find her doing a little routine with paying the bills, writing checks, balancing it all, etc. She was really good at keeping up with it. Books are a weakness of mine as well. I borrow from the library otherwise I would spend way too much on them. I never read books twice so it’s a bit of a waste to me.
My sin is getting lunch during the workday. I don’t do it often, but sometimes I’m just bored of my sandwich and want to get a treat. I hate wasting $7, but I love not having to make my meal!
As for your book habit … Kindles are hard for lending books, but Nooks allow lending, so your library’s lending library for ebooks might be more for Nooks. Also, a great source for cheap used books is the Friends of the Library sales — books are usually $0.50 paperback and $1 hardcover. I print out my amazon wish list when I go, but most of the time I spend shopping for children’s books. That’s my 2nd sin — I spent $30 at the last book sale!
Alexa, I know just what you mean about overbuying books when you have a Kindle rather than an actual book. Actual books take up a lot of space thereby limiting how many we have room for, but with an e-reader the space is endless. I too, am a lover of books, and I was so happy when someone passed along a link for this website… http://moneysavingmom.com/tag/free-ebooks. Money Saving Mom posts multiple e-books every day that are available at no cost. One word of caution though, if you don’t go and download the free book on the day it is announced, it might not be free after that, so pay attention to the price shown when you get to the e-book’s link. I have downloaded many, many great books through Money Saving Mom’s links. I am not at all affiliated with that site! Hope you like it! 🙂
My bad money habit is eating out all the time. I hate cooking and when the wife and I are tired we eat out all the time.