Impatience Costs | brokeGIRLrich
This week I experienced an event where impatience + stupidity cost me $80. Plus tax.
I’m actually a huge advocate of being prepared, picking up spare items you may need at sales before you need them and planning ahead.
But sometimes you do something stupid like leave your computer charger in Idaho and don’t realize it until you are in Nevada. And even when you contact the place you left it, they can’t find it.
I’m very attached to my computer. Possibly a little too attached. I usually get up about two hours before I have to leave for work so I can spend about an hour and a half making sure I’m up to date on work emails, freelance writing and working on brokeGIRLrich. Then I take my computer to work and use it there. Afterwards, I finish up anything that didn’t get done in the morning.
Seriously, I’d average I spend about 4 hours on this thing on a light usage day.
And then I lost the charger. Mother of pearl. Not only did it mess with my workday, it even messed up the my morning routine with my roommate, because it turns out when someone doesn’t expect you to be there when they wake up, it really creates some getting ready in the morning conflicts.
Of course, as soon as I realized I’d lost it, I started searching for the approximate replacement cost.
Side Note: You know what is awesome about this story though? Thanks to my emergency fund and other savings, I wasn’t worried at all about whether or not I could buy a new charger.
Just irritated at the cost. And how stupid I was to lose it in the first place.
Brand new and at a nearby store: $80 + Tax
WTF? You may or may not recall that I’m actually saving up for a new laptop this year. That’s nearly 1/12 of the cost of a new one. I’m going to buy a new one soon anyway!!!
And then I had a very un-personal finance savvy moment in which I thought, just buy the whole new laptop then.
This unsavvy moment was definitely aided by the Macbook Pro that I am actually saving up for being on display at the Best Buy, all ready to go.
Sigh. At least I fought that urge.
eBay Cost: $30. And a week of my time waiting for shipping.
I easily conjured up a dozen excuses in my mind why I couldn’t wait for a week (key word here – excuses):
- I need it for work.
- I’m bothering other people asking to use theirs.
- I am not using the public computers in each hotel lobby circa 1994.
- How will I do performance reports in a timely manner?
- It’s a major pain to read light plots on my phone.
- I make money blogging, I have to be able to easily access my blog… which I also hate doing through my phone.
So I hopped in the van, headed over to Best Buy and dropped $80 on it –after an extremely high spending week (we had an accidental vacation when a booking fell through, which was kind of awesome and I don’t really mind the money spent, but it was a lot higher than when we’re working like crazy and being fed by venues and spend like $10 or less a day).
On the plus side, the personal finance blogger in me isn’t entirely dead. I definitely stood in the Best Buy for about 30 minutes trying to figure out how on earth to get that thing cheaper and still have it in my possession within 24 hours.
Clearly, I came up with nothing, but I was aware. And irritated.
So, moral of the story, if you have time, you can almost always find an item cheaper. Impatience costs.
And double check you actually have your computer charger when you leave places!!
Ooof! But I’d agree — you need to be able to charge your laptop. Those things are like lifeblood, as disturbing as that is 🙂 So, it had to be done, and I’m glad you had the $$ to pay for it.
C@thesingledollar recently posted…What to do with the $$ I’m saving on gas
I’d honestly do the same thing. I spend probably between 6-10 hours a day on this baby- it’s kinda crazy.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…Down The Healthcare Rabbit Hole
I know. I about had a heart attack when it wasn’t in my bag… and finding time to get anything out on tour double how much of a pain in the butt it is.
I think they sound more like adequate reaons rather than excuses. I , too, hate accessing my blog and other blogs through a phone. And I have a old Blackberry! Although I am typing this comment on it as of right now. :p
Karen recently posted…Hard Work: How Do You Define It
I think all excuses are still reasons, they’re just not necessarily 100% valid.
I’d love to say I haven’t had those moments, but I’d totally be lying.
OG has done something I find a little unethical. He’ll buy it from Best Buy AND from eBay, then return the Best Buy one when the eBay one shows up….
Joe Saul-Sehy recently posted…Managing Energy Instead of Time with Tarryn Hoff
This is brilliant and really sketchy.
Doh! Sounds like this purchase was totally justified, but still painful all at the same time.
Brian @ Debt Discipline recently posted…Week End Round Up #68
Yikes. That expense would pain me, too, but it’s happened to the best of us. I always think of the Game of Life, you know how sometimes you would draw a card and you’d lose money randomly, almost “just because”? When stuff like this happens, I always think about how as children we didn’t realize just how accurate that game really was… haha.
Chela @SmashOdyssey recently posted…Resolution Check In: January Update
Ugh! That sucks. I’ve had to do that before too, but because my laptop charger totally died.
Kayla @ Everything Finance recently posted…Love or Money: 5 Ways to Check Financial Compatibility
We’ve all been there, done that in some fashion.
ThriftyHamster recently posted…A Hamster’s Short: Feb. 6th, 2015
Your articles are so humorous! However, you’re so right about the danger of being impatient! I recently launched my own blog at citygirlsavings.com, where we empower women to achieve financial independence while maintaining a fashionable lifestyle. We are already up and running and as a fellow financial blogger I would love it if you checked us out sometime! Keep up the amazing work!
I have spent 1300 bucks on a new laptop as soon as my previous one ‘died’. Sure, I could have ordered it in the US and have it shipped here. But I needed it NOW, since it’s the ‘machine’ I do my web design work. So, I just went to the near mall, visited 3-4 IT shops and came back with it. A big 17 inches screen (can’t use less for my design work), so the search was pretty fast. And, of course, any laptop this big is at almost twice the price of a smaller screen one. Oh, well …
dojo recently posted…A Small Home Based Business or a Bigger Company?
That is a total bummer. I have been in the same situation where I just can’t wait to get a better deal on something. As to leaving stuff at a hotel somewhere. Either myself, wife or one of my kids have left stuff in a hotel room and it is amazing that even if you call just an hour or 2 later they never saw it. Pillows, sun glasses, cameras, and baby dolls. All vanished without a trace. Your computer charger is sharing space in a box with all my stuff somewhere in the Outer Limits or the Twilight Zone.
LeisureFreak Tommy recently posted…5 Non Financial Signs you are ready to Retire
Haha, yes, it’s definitely a Twilight Zone episode waiting to happen. I love that show.