That is what happens when you try to heat up a sandwich wrapped with tinfoil in the microwave. Immediately after I pressed the start button, I heard a buzzing sound and I saw sparks from the tinfoil to the ceiling of the microwave. Then the tinfoil started catching fire and luckily I was hanging around the kitchen because I was able to press stop in time before disaster happened. Otherwise, my apartment could end up like this.
Needless to say, my sandwich was a little burned and had a weird smell. After replaying the scene in my head, I realized that it could have been a financially catastrophic mistake. Not only will I need to buy a new microwave, I would have to pay for damages to the apartment and probably anything else that was damaged depending on how far the fire reaches. All the damages because I was careless and did not know any better.
This brings up a good topic for personal finance because carelessness and lack of knowledge keeps us from becoming wealthy.
Being Careless Kills Our Personal Finances
How many times have we lost money because we were careless? Many of us pay late fees because we forget to pay the bills, while some others amongst us pay overdraft fees because we mistimed our cash flow. I am not saying to start counting every cent here because that will just drive us insane, but stay organized!
It would be interesting if we start keeping track of the cost of carelessness. Costs like the ones I mentioned above could be tracked and analyzed. I wonder what the extra cost will add up to be if we had to make another trip to the grocery store because we forgot that one ingredient we needed for our Thanksgiving Turkey.
We are humans and ultimately will be careless once in a while but we should try to minimize it! I am sure if we make a conscious effort to stay on top of everything, it will help us not only in our finances but also in other parts of our lives (career comes to mind)!
Lack of Knowledge
The lack of knowledge probably cost us way too much money. Acting on stock tips, purchasing a product when a better and cheaper equivalent is available, and not being able to negotiate fully on large ticket items like cars and houses all fall under this category. Just like carelessness, this is preventable and all we have to do is slow down! Stop acting on impulse and stop diving head first without doing some homework.
With the Internet, we can find information on everything we ever want to know. If we wanted to buy a Honda Civic, an online search would reveal how much people are willing to pay for it; when they bought it and even the dealership they bought it in. Having this information is vital because we basically know the dealer’s bottom line, allowing us to just dictate that price to them.
Search engines also allow us to read up on product reviews and do comparisons much easier than before. Many of us are taking advantage of this information already and so should you. Never overpay for a product again.
We do not have to be a genius to stay on top of everything and not act on impulse. Start now and your wallet will say thank you in the future. It will slow down our money leaks, not to mention reduce our risk of setting our place on fire!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I am glad you are okay and can turn the incident into a great post. What were you thinking putting metal into the microwave?
Pinyo: Maybe I was just thinking about my ETrade stocks
I just threw it in there and started seeing pretty lights inside the Microwave!
This is why you pay $15/mo for renters insurance.
To prevent a moment of carelessness from setting you back several years!
Being careless definitely has a big thing in killing finances. You buy stuff you do not need and you think it’s a small purchase but purchases over time add up.
Living Off Dividends: Hehe $15 is a lot though. I wonder if getting renters insurance is common since I never get it and haven’t heard of anyone I know that has gotten it.
Vik Dulat: Small things definitely add up. So many people always want to buy things and then just let it sit in the closet for years
People who are careless with microwwaves and burn down houses/apartments are who I hate and fear! Some jackass tries to burn down our apartment quite regularly. as our fire alarm goes off at least once a month.He always burns something in the kitchen!Careless fag