Small Slips Sink Ships
Posted by John Draper | Filed under Bad Habits!, Take Control
I’m always amazed at the amount of money people let slip through their fingers every month. Let’s take the $1.50 many people pay to take money out of a bank machine that isn’t theirs. They do this four or five times a week, which works out to about $390 a year. Over thirty years of banking (from age 20 to age 50) that’s almost $12,000 totally wasted.
Bankrate.com estimates that Americans will pay more than $4.3 billion in ATM fees for withdrawing money in a way that most people justify as “more convenient.” $4.3 billion for convenience? You’re kidding me, right?
How about that cuppa cawfee every morning at $2.50 a pop? That’s $650 a year (assuming you only have one cup and work a five-day week) or almost $20,000 from age 20 to age 50.
The Specialty Coffee Association of America, which watches consumer spending of high quality coffee says that Americans spent about $8 billion in 2001. By 2006, that number had jumped to $12 billion. TWELVE BILLION DOLLARS! On coffee? Wow!
Hey, don’t tell me you don’t know where you’re money is going? It’s going up in smoke, down the Ivory Throne, or out the window.
Once upon a time there was an old saying: Take care of the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves. It’s time to start focusing on the pennies once again.
I know it’s easy to say, “It’s a cuppa cawfee, goshdarnit… just $2.50. It’s a small pleasure.” And it is. But if you’re doing it unconsciously and you’re going into debt at the same time, it’s still a stupid waste of money.
Many people are totally unaware of what is happening in their own accounts… where their money is going, what their “small indulgences” are, how much money they are spending unconsciously. Most people hardly pay attention to their bank statements, let alone balancing their cheque books to see just how quickly those small costs add up.
Worse still, there are the people who are so far in denial that they refuse to look at the balance in their bank account before they go off to waste some more money. The result, they go into overdraft, bounce cheques, and rack up fees. I’ve just finished working up a family where they were spending over $300 a month on bank fees (because of so many NSFs), which over a thirty-year time frame would amount to $108,000!
But surely people wouldn’t be dumb enough to do that every month, Gail. I mean you’re exaggerating to make your point, aren’t you?
Am I?
People like to point out that the folks on my show are the extreme cases. Really? So you only go to the bank machine twice a month? Every time you spend money you write it down or keep the receipt so that you can update your budget? All your bills are paid in full, on time, every month? You’ve got your wills and powers of attorney in place? You’ve got disability insurance? You’re saving for your children’s education, your own retirement, and to have some money just in case? You don’t spend money without thinking about it? And you’re content, feel safe, aren’t worried about when it’s all going to catch up with you?
Maybe you have got it down just right. Good for you. But if you haven’t yet mastered the art of conscious spending it’s time to fess up, at least to yourself.
So how do waste money, and how much are you really wasting?
Pick something you do “religiously”, without thinking about it, unconsciously, and figure out what the long-term cost of your “small indulgence” is. Whether you’re a bottle-of-wine a week (or night) girl, a magazine-at-the-checkout chick, or a doodad-at-the-automotive-store dude, add it up. Yup, actually add it up. Multiply it by 52 if you do it weekly, 250 if you do it every work day, or 365 if you do it daily. (Check out what it costs for a small spend like a newspaper done daily over 30 years and you’ll see what I mean.) Once you figure out what you’re spending in a year, multiply it by 30 to see what it’s costing you long-term.
The point isn’t to eliminate every small pleasure from your life. The point is to choose those pleasures consciously and, therefore, consciously enjoy them. If every sip of that beer brings you pleasure, and you can afford it, you’re doing fine. But if it’s your third bottle and you can’t remember the other two, well, kiddo, you got some Consciousness Raising to do.
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October 14, 2008 at 10:27 am
My Starbucks habit cost me $800 last year. I know because I downloaded and categorized every transaction in Quicken. This year I have preloaded a Starbucks card every month for $20-30. It is still a small indulgence, but it is much less of one than it was last year.
October 14, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Gail, I’ve never quite understood the ATM & bank fee’s, I’ve had a PC account for years “No Fee” and our 2nd account cost us $4.00 per month. it’s usually only a few extra steps to find a ATM from your bank so take those extra steps and save a few bucks. The small things add up, a little extra effort pays off.
October 14, 2008 at 12:14 pm
My Starbucks habit cost me $1300.00 last year. This year I bought a cappucino maker for $130.00. and will spend approxmately $250.00 on expresso beans.This will save me around $900.00 this year and more next year, because I won’t have to buy another machine.
October 14, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I started working from home a few months ago, and wondered why I actually had extra money. When you subtract the coffees, the occasional lunch out, the gas, the donations and sponsoring for coworkers kids etc it certainly adds up. I estimate that I am saving at least 70 – 100 dollars a week.
October 14, 2008 at 2:25 pm
To Goal “0″ Debt – I agree with you. But want to let you know that there are accounts out there, you could use as your second account, that have no fees. I use to pay $4 for a chequeing account with RBC but am looking to change over to a CIBC chequeing account, where if I have a $1,000 balance every month, I don’t pay any fees at all. It’s the CIBC Everyday Chequeing Account. I know there are other accounts at different banks, so look into them and save your money – the banks make enough money, we don’t need to give them any more. Thanks.
October 14, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I think I can truthfully say that I am conscious of where every penny goes. It’s not that I refuse to spend money – it’s just that every purchase has to be weighed against the utility or pleasure that I’ll get from it.
Besides, balancing the category spending each month (or at least recognizing where things got juggled) is actually fun. … basically the electronic equivalent of the budget jars.
October 14, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Thanks nkm, that’s just were my 4 bucks goes every month, I should just move all to the PC account. I ran out of cheques at rbc and they wanted over 30 bucks to give me 50 cheques, PC sent me 50 new one’s for free, I’ve written my last rbc cheque.
October 14, 2008 at 4:04 pm
On a related note of banking accounts, I’m amazed when people say they’re happy their bank doesn’t charge them $3 a month bank fees when they keep a minimum of $2,500 in their chequing account (which pays little to no interest). It would be better to pay the $3 a month – annual cost of $36 – and keep that $2,500 in a high interest account which at 3% would be annual income of $75, especially now with the TFSA coming out soon which eliminates the tax aspect of the $75 income. And it would be better yet to complain until you get free banking. Or at least cheaper.
October 14, 2008 at 4:27 pm
You’re SOOO right. I know myself, i don’t know 100% of the time, each month where every penny is going. Next month i know what one of my goals will be! I want to find out what my gremlin is!
October 14, 2008 at 5:02 pm
For Geoff – I think of the minimum balance plan as an extra security stash. I already have an account with $1000 for emergencies but the account that gives me free banking due to the min $1500 balance is like a backup security stash. Should something crop up like an unexpected home repair or emergency, etc, I have that peace of mind and I can readily handle the small monthly fee.
Now what I would like to know is why the bank charges $2 for the monthly statement fee that they sent me even after I set myself up to only get e-statements. It’s something I need to follow up on. I know that $2 a month or $24 a year is really minimal but still!
What I find I struggle with is the idea of keeping it up day in, day out. Like if I am careful for a very very long time (like when I was doing my first 2 degrees) it got to a point when I wanted to go out and buy everything and anything! It’s the idea that I have been so good for so very, very long that I should let down my hair every once in a while. Any one with any ideas of that other than the standard of focusing on the big picture??
October 14, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Bank fees!!!!
I loathe bank fees.
My husband will NOT entertain the idea of switching accounts, let alone banks. All the pre-approved expenses come out of the checking that he started when he was 17 years old (mortgage, investments, insurances) At least I was able to convince him to get a “package” account that has tons of transactions for one monthly fee. But I notice that it is now $13.95/month. Add that to my small-business account fees and we are looking at $24/ month in bank fees as a flat minimum! Very frustrating.
As for little vices, I have to agree with VJ, working at home has made a BIG impact on the little purchases that out-of-home work pushes on you. Other than the obvious savings in gas, wardrobe and parking, just not being out in the great wide world saves a lot in restaurants, coffees, lottery pools, little gifts, stopping at the shops on the way home, etc, etc, etc… of course there is ON-LINE shopping, but we won’t go there (Having Gail’s website as your homepage on your browser would drastically reduce the impulse to shop online if you are prone to that.)
October 14, 2008 at 10:38 pm
You guys should check out ING All my kids have their accounts there
No fees 3% interest. Great bank. PC also another great one as alot of you mentioned and right now the interest is 3.75%. I hate paying bank fees. Only do it when i absolutely have to.
Love your daily blogs Gail.
October 15, 2008 at 7:55 am
On the other side of the spectrum… for the frugal misers like me, the latte factor is saddening because while I don’t do daily anything (coffee/etc), I do take various classes for fun, and have become almost paranoid about missing any classes because of the breakdown in cost per class that I’ve already paid for. Every week this summer I calculated how many days I would bike versus not to figure out whether it was worth it to get a bus pass or just tickets. I wrote a cheque for my sister for some concert tickets she picked up because the cheques are a sunk cost (paid for long ago), and I only use a handful a year so they last for ages. Doing an email money transfer online would have been faster, but it cost a dollar.
In conclusion: I’m awesome.
October 15, 2008 at 11:01 am
To Goal “0″ Debt – I have had SO much trouble with RBC inspite of being with them for almost 13 years, it’s ridiculous! From my mortgage to chequing account and US$ account, they have been nothing but trouble. My mortgage is up for re-newale very soon, so am looking to other banks to move everything out of there. They are ridiculously expensive in every transaction. The trouble I had was convincing my husband to move – I finally did it this time and he has seen the light! Thanks.
To Frugal Graduate – I agree with you. That extra $1000 balance in the chequing account gives me peace of mind. I am a home owner and I have had emergencies where I had to do repairs quickly and just knowing that there is money sitting there for this purpose, let’s me sleep at night. Thanks.
October 15, 2008 at 2:43 pm
nkm:
I have the everyday CIBC chequing account. Yes, the minimum is $1000 and if you keep it above that they monthly fee is waived. However – fees are waived only if you have 10 or less transactions. Anything above 10 transactions on your account per month and you are charged. It is only like 60 cents or something per extra transaction, but it can add up if you use interac, cheques, transfers, go to the ATM alot etc. I usually manage to keep mine to about 12 transactions so it isn’t a huge deal. You are also charged for cheque imaging return. I’ve been eyeing the Citizen’s Bank chequing account. My only concern is that they don’t have an office in Toronto.
October 15, 2008 at 3:50 pm
For me it’s Coke and chocolate. I love both! I can’t imagine how much I have spent over the years, ouch. I guess I shouldn’t have to imagine I should know but I don’t. Magazines is another one. Well, at least it isn’t cigarettes.
October 16, 2008 at 10:11 am
To Lise – thanks for letting me know about the CIBC account. I am looking into the ING, PC financial and National Bank accounts. I have not made up my mind yet, so thank you for pointing this out. Gosh it is all so confusing and it takes time to weed through every one of the banks to get the best deal. Thanks Lise.
October 17, 2008 at 6:20 pm
My kids’ accounts are with Achieva, a Manitoba-based credit union. Offers among the highest interest rates plus deposits are fully guaranteed by provincial govt. A bit of a hassle to deposit/withdraw when resident in Ontario: use other credit unions to minimize/avoid cost as using bank ATM’s incurs a charge.
October 28, 2008 at 1:31 am
You should all check out citizens bank. I have a pcf, citizens, TD and BMO account for various reasons but the Citizens is the best because you don’t pay fees at TONS of ATMS. It’s free at any exchange ATM which is like every credit union, HSBC, VanCity etc. It’s also free internationally. The only drawback for me is there is no branch in my city so I can’t change the PIN on the card. If I could I would close my PCF account.