We’re not necessarily talking chronic sloth here. Sometimes, in this busy world with work, family and friends, you can let the little things slide. And these little things can cost you lots of money in the long run. Here are some things you can do to save money with minimal effort.

1. Stop oversleeping. This is what most people associate with laziness – staying in bed all day to avoid work or responsibilities. But did you know it can cause health problems? Sleeping the day away can lead to insomnia, and that can be costly to treat.
2. Not paying your credit card bill on time. Can you say late fees? How about paying more in interest? You can avoid this by setting up automatic payments, or just paying the bill as soon as you receive it in the mail. Never throw your billing statement in a “to-do” pile. By the time you get around to it, you may already have incurred interest fees.
3. Not choosing the best rate on your savings account. Surprisingly, the best savings account rates are with online banks (after all they’re not paying for brick and mortar institutions). Shop around.
4. Not opening a retirement fund. Sure the stock market took a dive, recently and this may sound like a crazy idea. However, history has shown that the stock market on average pays 10 percent return, even through the Great Depression. Another thought – if you just keep putting money from now on in your 401K or IRA, you’re buying a lot of bargain stocks. And the market WILL be back.
5. Using an ATM which charges you a fee. Not planning ahead to have the cash you need can cost you $4-5 per ATM transaction, which is a ridiculous amount of money to pay to access your own money. To avoid this, only withdraw cash from your bank’s ATM machine, or get cash back at the grocery store – they can give you up to $100 in cash over the purchase amount.
6. Not sending in rebate offers. This one can cost you BIG. Unless something has an “instant” rebate, which is taken at the register, some of the adverstised prices at Best Buy and Staples include a rebate that you must mail in. And the average amount of the rebate? $50 – which is not small change, even if you’re Bill Gates.
7. Not doing your own credit repair. C’mon – why pay $800 to a credit repair “Expert” when you can do this yourself – cheap. The excuses I hear are pretty lame – ‘I don’t have time’ is the biggest one. We wrote up a little article on how long it takes to do credit repair yourself. The answer 3-4 hours a month.
8. Not fixing your credit report. While we’re on the topic of credit repair, did you know that having a low credit score can cost you a lot of money? It can. Higher interest rates on loans, higher insurance rates, even being passed over for a job due to poor credit. I’ve written about SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Laziness – It’s Not Just Annoying – It Can Cost You Money", url: "http://www.creditinfocenter.com/wordpress/2009/08/05/laziness-its-not-just-annoying-it-can-cost-you-money/" });

   Related posts:

   1. Bad Credit – What Does it Actually Cost You? Every day, when faced with having to make some tough...
   2. Can Paying Off Your Credit Card Cost You Your Job? It’s been all over the news: Americans are saving money...
   3. 10 Ways Banks Take Your Money Late fees, loan-origination fees, over-the-limit and overdraft charges helped generate...
   4. High Interest Rate Checking – Myth or Reality? With savings accounts paying an average of under 1% interest,...
   5. Planning Ahead For the Holidays Can Save Time and Money As an (ex) engineer, I am typically one of those...