This year is all about saving money every day while trying to increase your income potential. If you did one thing each day that could save as little as $5 over the course of a year, you could have an extra $1800 in your pocket at the end of the year. Not all of these tips may apply to you, so to keep it fair, not all of them will apply to me.
Especially around the holidays!!! Every year, inevitably, I send in all of our payments by the 17th of December. Every year, inevitably, I receive a late fee. This year, Sallie “Gimme Your Money” Mae tried to charge us a $20 late fee. I make all of our payments through Bank of America’s Online BillPay and knew it was paid by the 17th. Sallie Mae’s website agreed with us, telling us our payment was made on the 17th. The customer service representative decided to lecture my husband for paying on the 30th. (Not smart)
Apparently, they received our payment on schedule, but didn’t post it to the account until the 30th. The billing department charged us a late fee when they issued our monthly statement, but the department that takes payments posted our payment and backdated it to the correct date. No one removed the inaccurate late fee, though. Long story short, the payment has been reversed. We saved $20 today.*
Whenever you receive a statement, review it for charges that you may not have made and fees that shouldn’t be there. Banks aren’t perfect, and there is room for both computer and human error.
365 Days of Saving Money: $575 Annually (Running Total)
*Note: I am aware that I am loosely defining “savings” for this series. People that are living bare bones may not be able to make some of the choices we are mentioning. But if these tips aren’t followed, you will have to pay extra. In my book, not paying extra is “savings.”
