Reigning in My Latte Factor or The Cost of Returning Things Late (Part 1)
As a result of posting my total net worth and my monthly expenditures last month on my main blog, I made some serious revelations. I needed to identify my latte factor. My latte factor wasn't lattes; I get my coffee from the office machine. I don't smoke cigarettes. I don't have extravagant dinners at expensive restaurants or spend three nights out drinking a week. So what is it? It's something 100% preventableit's late fees. My late fee habit has interestingly never been on credit card fees or any past-due bills. My latte factor is a little sneakier than that.
The late fees bit at me the worst in 2003. When I graduated from college, I had eight library books that I used in assorted term papers. After I walked across that stage, I ever wanted to see the inside of the library again, so I neglected to return them. The next thing I knew several weeks had passed, and at $0.20 a day, it ended up costing me a whopping $40 smackeroos. I was so embarrassed when the librarian told me my fine. I hoped the people around me didnt hear my sentence. But even worse is the fact that that my second highest fine was $30! Not to mention, other people were not able to use those books during my extended borrowing session. But my problem isnt just library books. I have to admit, even before recently policy changes at Blockbuster, I didnt make it that much of a priority to return things as promptly as I should have. Even with the end of the late fees Blockbuster still sneaks in a $1.25 restocking fee, plus local taxes if you return it past a certain point. I clearly need to work on that. I just added the fines that I could easily recall, and plugged the total of $71 into my favorite calculator and I realized it would have grown to $1449, if I diverted it into my Roth IRA account and earned 9% interest per year from now until the time I turn 59. If I can get it together to make simple moves like going to video rental store or using the automated renewal system at my library, Ill be on the right start. Now thats motivation!
This is also posted at Financial Freedom Trek.
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