Proverbs 20:13 – “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread”.
The Cost Of Being Lazy In 2021
The cost of being lazy in 2021. These days countless businesses make hay by taking advantage of our collective indolence–everything from not bothering to spend 15 minutes surfing the Web for a better rate on a savings account to not taking half as much time to mail a $50 rebate on a new laptop computer.
Many people are content to keep their money in traditional brick-and-mortar banks. Put less charitably, they’re too lazy to root around for a better interest rate offered by online institutions.
A quick search for a good rate at an FDIC-insured bank plus the few clicks to set up an account can take under 30 minutes. “If their money is somewhere, and they’re busy doing other things, they don’t necessarily try to do better. But if people have a decent chunk of change, it’s worth it.”
Not preparing for retirement
Take a hint: Old age comes quick, and you’ll need a serious retirement stash if you want to ride it out in any kind of style. Too bad for those who don’t bother to set up a savings of some sort.
Letting rebate offers expire
Department and electronics stores often advertise goods at post-rebate prices, assuming most customers will be too lazy to mail in the rebate, which could save them up to 10% on big-ticket items such as dishwashers, refrigerators and computers. Don’t let them get away with this. Filling out and mailing the rebate takes all of 15 minutes. Says, Consumer Reports: “Anyone who walks away from rebates is giving money away.”
Let 0% financing go down the drain
Ah, the Siren song of “no money down.” Many stores offer 0% financing for a length of time, allowing customers to pay in installments without incurring interest charges. Great deal, right? Only if you remember (or bother) to pay in full by the end of the no-interest grace period. Fall short and the often very steep interest rate that kicks in applies not to the remainder of the debt, but the entire original purchase price.
Not getting burned is as simple as reading your statement and sending in the bill.
Sending mail or payments in late
Overnight mail isn’t just for cubicle warriors–it’s also for procrastinating sons and daughters who forgot about mortgage notes, repayments of any kind etc. Drag your feet and you’ll pay a premium for speed.
prices escalate quickly based on distance and weight.
Meanwhile, regular delivery, which takes two to eight days, starts at $4.95. Saving that money takes no extra time, just a little extra planning ahead.
Not using employer wellness incentives
With health care costs rocketing through the roof, more corporations are willing to pay you to be healthy–or even just to try.
plenty of companies are happy to pay employees $50 to $150 per year to take a 30-minute health-risk assessment and biometric screening to determine health risk factors. (Talk about money for nothing.)
“Because companies are trying to control health care costs, they will encourage people to change their behavior.”
Paying any price without negotiating
“It never hurts to ask” According to a recent poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, roughly 80% of haggling Americans were able to win better deals on hotel rates, cellphone bills and clothing; more than 70% paid less for electronics and furniture. Landlords? They’re ready to negotiate too, especially in this nasty real estate market.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial adviser. This site is for educational purposes only. It is imperative that you do your own research. I am sharing my opinion from personal research and experience with no guarantee of gains or losses on investments, finance etc.
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