Five Mistakes that Cost Me Dearly

I work so hard and spend so much time trying to save $25 here and $5 there. That is why when I lose money due to a mistake it frustrates me even more than when I get hit with an unexpected but valid expense, like having to replace a furnace. I get really upset at myself when it is my mistake that loses me money. Here are five mistakes that I'll never forget.

1. Not removing an online, auto-renewal agreement. I recently signed up for an online consulting service. I did not notice that the service had a default, auto-renewal option. Thus the service was automatically renewed against my desire. $200 was automatically deducted from my bank account for a service that I did not want.
2. Letting my dental insurance lapse over 90 days. I had left my job and was uncertain about continuing my dental insurance. I decided, 100 days after my insurance had expired, that I would renew my dental insurance. Unfortunately, because the insurance had lapsed over 90 days, I had to wait six-months before being able to receive benefits such as cavity fillings. Two months into my six-month waiting period my dentist told me that I had a cavity and that I should have it fixed as soon as possible. $300 later it was fixed. Had I acted 10-days earlier on renewing my insurance I'd have $300 more in my bank account.
3. Not paying attention to policy changes regarding my bank account. In July, my bank changed their policy about using my savings account to be used as an overdraft protection account for my checking account. Prior to July, I wouldn't worry too much about my checking account balance, knowing that my savings account would be used to pay for any withdraws from my checking account that exceeded the balance. My bank changed its policy such that a $5.00 fee would be charged any time my savings account was used for overdraft protection. My bank had sent numerous letters and emails regarding this change but I didn't pay attention to them. It took racking up $30 of overdraft fees for me to finally get the message.
4. Laziness. We paid cash for half of our two-year old vehicle and financed the other half through the car dealership. At the time that we financed the car, interest rates were 8.5%. We received payment coupons for making car payments. While the coupons were convenient, it made it very easy for us to forget about the high interest we were paying for the loan. We got lazy about taking action about refinancing our car loan even when interest rates dropped to less than 5%. While our car is paid off, I cringe to think that I paid over $3000 in interest when I could have reduced it to roughly $1500.
5. Going to the Emergency Room when we could have gone to urgent care. My husband cut his finger on a table saw. While the injury was serious enough to get medical care, it was not life threatening. He went to the emergency room instead of an urgent care facility. This mistake cost us $2580 when it could have cost us approximately $1240.
   

More from this contributor:

Reducing My Monthly Energy Bill by $25
I Left My Job but Not My Affordable Health Insurance
Emergency Room Costs Versus Urgent Care