I’m still mad at myself for this, but on February 4th I did the dumbest thing I’ve done in a long time: I lost my bus pass.
It must’ve fell out of my pocket on the bus, therefore I had absolutely zero chance of anyone actually turning it in. I waited a couple of days, got ridiculously upset with myself, and looked everywhere I could think of but I definitely lost it. I think the most infuriating thing about it was that I was now going to have to pay around $150 to ride the Edmonton Transit System to and from work, which is NOT worth it given its many inefficiencies. I didn’t want to give them any more of my hard earned money! But I had to get to work somehow, so I bought $68 worth of bus tickets (it was too late to buy a new monthly pass for $89). That $68 was my stupid tax, and coincidentally I had just read Cassie’s post about stupid tax on my way to work, about eight hours before I lost my pass! I’m still very upset with myself for being so careless, but I’ve learned my lesson: bus pass will ALWAYS go into my purse after I show it to the driver. Not my pocket, not my lunch bag, my (secure) purse.
The $68 I spent on tickets actually helped me save money by not being able to go anywhere after my transfer expired. I’m guessing I saved at least that much (if not more) by being restricted to a walkable radius near my apartment. I’m willing to admit it now, as it may have been a blessing in disguise.
Which leads me to my February summary and March goal. I saved 49% of my net income in February (seriously, who am I, I don’t even know anymore), and since I pay my credit cards from my first cheque in March, I’m on track to save about 50% in March as well.
I love seeing my savings grow, but I’m probably going to have to shell out for a few things in March considering that while I was walking home from work one day, I realized that my left boot was no longer waterproof. It’s actually pretty good timing considering winter boots are on sale right now, so I’m hoping to find a good deal. I also need a couple of new clothing items (mainly a black cardigan), so hopefully I can find something reasonably priced in that department. I may or may not be getting my hair did in March, because I’m now officially closer to 27 than I am to 26, so the greys are taking over in full force. The worst thing I might have to shell out for is taxes. My return last year was small, and I didn’t get my T4 on time to do anything extra on my RRSPs (maybe it’ll be in the mailbox tonight!), so I might be owing this year (yuck).
What’s the biggest stupid tax you’ve ever paid? Do you have any big goals for March?
You are seriously a savings rock star dude. I can’t even fathom putting away 49% right now (future goal perhaps?). Who does your dye? I’ve box dyed my hair twice in the last 6 months and the dye didn’t touch them either time
Thanks! I seriously don’t know how I flipped the switch but I’m glad I did. Except now it makes it 10x harder to actually spend money on non-essentials because I haven’t done it for awhile!
I go to Stacy at Celebrity Hair. I think the last time I went and just got a cut and colour it was $150 with tip, which is annoyingly on par with non-student stylists in the city, and I really like what she does with my cut. I was considering trying that new hair dye, the oil based one called Olia (sp?) but I’m scared!
Is it bad that I can’t remember how big my last stupid tax was? The bounced $50 check from many years ago is on my mind b/c we were talking about tiny things that can tip you when you’re living on the edge.
Ohhh I know. A few years ago, when my parents’ car was towed because they didn’t tell me they were behind in payments. That was Several. Hundred. Dollars.
That sucks that their stupid tax became yours! I can’t remember the last time I had to pay for something ridiculous either. Ah well, I’ve been lucky.
I am glad I’m not the only one with with a “stupid tax” experience. I consider mine to be the interest I paid when I got my first loan when I was 18. I didn’t realize by the time I paid it off it would have cost me more than double. I learnt from that though!
Oh boo! I’ve never lost a transit pass, but I have lost cash before. Once I gave a $100 instead of a $10 because my money wasn’t organized big bills to small (at least that’s the only thing I could think of that might have happened to it, or it stuck to another bill and I didn’t notice). Now I organize my money big to small and always make sure bills are stuck to each other. That was a few years ago, but it bothered me so much I still remember the feeling vividly.
I hate, hate, hate that feeling. All it takes is one time though to change your behaviour, which it sounds like you have!
That sucks! My biggest stupid tax lately was forgetting to turn my data off on my phone, I had over $100 in data charges from watching netflix (I thought I was using wifi), it sucked!
Wow, that’s AWFUL! I went over on my data plan after I changed it last month, so I paid that stupid tax too. It’s even worse when you think you’re safe and using wifi.
My last stupid tax was when I used my Visa and forgot to pay it off. I usually only use my Mastercard, and completely forgot that I had to use it for an emergency. Really stupid.
Ouch – I feel for you!