Sometimes Shortcuts Will Cost You

We are all in a hurry these days.  Society as a whole is dependent on convenience items. People work so hard and play so hard that we are constantly looking for a shortcut, an easier way.  Be careful though.  Those shortcuts will cost you.

On the news yesterday, the financial news reporter warned that Hertz rentals is now charging $9/gallon for gasoline if you do not return the rental car with a completely full gas tank. $9/gallon! Is it really worth the extra $5- $6/gallon to not pump gas?  I don't think so; I bet lots of people end up paying the price though either for convenience sake or because the gas is being charged to their company expense account. Regardless of who pays, it's not a shortcut that you should take.

When I heard the report yesterday, I thought to myself who is lazy enough to pay the extra money rather than to spend the time pumping gas? Today, I realized that I was guilty of a similar thing without even thinking about it. My first doctoral program classes begin May 16th.  When I registered for classes, there was an option to order my textboks online.  I clicked the button to avoid the search for the books, to sit in my chair rather than stand in lines, to simply have them sent to me in sturdy cardboard boxes straight to my door.  They haven't arrived yet, and I am ready to start reading.  I clicked on Amazon to see if the book that the first assignment was available there.  It was.  One click and it arrived on my beloved Kindle for $15 cheaper than the original book that I had ordered.  Hmmmm.... I started typing the titles of the other books, and I had wasted a lot of money simply by clicking that easy button.  I called and canceled my bookstore order.  I re-ordered the books from Amazon and saved almost $300... That's a beach trip, a shopping spree, a webcam for my computer...  It was about to be wasted money...  That shortcut would have cost me. 

What shortcut have you taken lately without even thinking about it? Did it save you time and money or cost you???