Little things do add up to big, bigger and even bigger things.
Those little, pesky things are so important to your financial landscape. I have heard many, many, many stories about a small charge or fee which someone did not take care of which later became a large expense.
It’s so easy to get trapped into monthly fees, annual fees, high interest rates and extra charges. It’s quite difficult to keep track of all your accounts, subscriptions and financial obligations. All of these items are small things that can add up to be very big things.
Remember, it’s a financial battlefield out there. It’s you against the people and corporations making money off of you. Companies are not going to call you and say “hey, you haven’t used your membership lately, do you want to cancel it instead of continue to pay the fee?’ They will probably send you a notice which increases your fee and hope you don’t notice.
We have all been in financial situations where we ended up paying much more than we originally thought. Sometimes we misunderstood the terms and sometimes we were mislead. Unfortunately, sometimes we were lied to. No matter the situation, take charge of your financial landscape and start saying no to unwanted, unnecessary and unfair fees.
When we are stuck in a situation where we are stuck paying extra charges and fees. It can be very frustrating and can make a person very angry. But it does no good to get angry. The best thing to do is to set aside some time, get into a good mindset, and decide you will calmly get the situation handled. Sometimes, it seems we are the victims of corporations, but the more you pay attention, learn and fight back, the better you will get at defending your financial scenario. Furthermore, the more people who stand up for fair financial practices, the better the financial battlefields will be for us all.
There are some fees that are unavoidable such as annual membership fees for a service you regularly use and find valuable. There are also fees that are worth it for the convenience. For example, I have no problem paying a $3 fee to regiser my vehicles at a nearby business rather than drive a longer distance and spend a great deal of time at a DMV to get the same service. However, I always insist on planning ahead and going to my bank to get cash before going out rather than pay ridiculous ATM fees.
Scrutinize your fees carefully and get rid of extra fees.
Some unnecessary fees that can save you BIG in the long run:
- ATM fees
- Late payment fees
- Credit Card interest fees
- Convenience fees
- Exceeding your credit limit fees
- Monthly service fees
- Annual fees
- Inactivity fees
- Overdraft fees
Don’t pay charges that are not yours, don’t pay extra fees, don’t pay for what you don’t want or need and scrutinize everything. Pay attention, pay attention and continue to constantly pay attention to all of your financial obligations whether you initiated them or not.
What are some fees or charges that you are currently paying that you can stop paying? How will you begin to eliminate these extra fees from your financial picture?
Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash