The Cost of Being Lazy

Go ahead, spend an entire Sunday catching up on episodes of Lost. Leave a few dishes in the sink overnight. But please, don’t be lazy where money is concerned. It's costing you more than you realize. In today's post on GetRichSlowly.org, "The High Cost of Laziness," (which references this article about laziness on Forbes.com), JD Roth sums up how many of us miss out on saving hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars because we're being lazy.

How so?

• Not haggling when you can
  
• Waiting until the last minute to pay bills, and then moaning about late fees
  
• Not sending in rebates (newsflash: electronics stores love to offer rebates because they know you're lazy)

Here are a few more ways we know we're lazy:

• Not cleaning your closet before shopping for a new season's wardrobe
• Ignoring random fees on your credit card bill that should be questioned
• Taking cabs when the subway really is faster
• Drinking too much wine or alcohol during the week (it's so expensive, and do you really need that headache?)
• Overspending on gifts

• Forgetting to invoice your clients
• Not following up after you've sent your invoices
• Avoiding payment of quarterly taxes, and then owing late fees
• Overspending on sub-contracted services because you didn't research the market for these services

Our goal here is not to demoralize or shame you. We simply want to bring to light some of the dustier areas of your finance psyche.

Experience catharsis — Share how you're being lazy:

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