That 1 Thing.

Thursday is a great day to do that 1 thing you don’t want to do but also don’t want to continue thinking about doing. (Friday is also an acceptable day.)  

Last month I got charged the first overdraft fees I’ve had in many many months. I knew I’d spent too much money at the beginning of the month, but I dealt with that by hoping it would all work out. It usually does! This time it did, too, except in addition to working out, it also worked out into three $30 overdraft fees on automatic payments, plus an additional $25 from a credit card. I got the credit union to refund me one of the overdraft fees and the credit card company to refund me the fee on this part, but still: I do not have $60 to be throwing away. I mean, $60 could cover all my ATM fees for the month! (Not really.) (But kind of.) (I’m going to fix that.)

So my 1 thing for this week was that I cancelled all of my automatic payments so overdrafts will not happen again. (A previous 1 thing was to set up all those automatic payments.)

BUT this is a great first step towards changing banks, a think I’ve been talking about for … a year.

"I shrugged, handed the man a twenty and took my change. But I knew I could have done better. I knew I’d failed in the negotiation."

Why you'd do this: Because responsible grown ups check their credit reports to make sure that the financial identities that exists for their names and social security numbers is the same one that exists in their hearts and minds.

Do 1 Thing.

My 1 thing is to stop being an idiot. What is your 1 thing?

To start: Don't estimate or pay quarterly taxes like smart people/the law tell you to.

Pay a bill. This is where we're at now. Pay a bill is the thing I have to do.

I need to do 1 thing.

"Hey, baby, what's your credit score?" said nobody, anywhere, ever. But it's still good to know what yours is, because it gives you an idea of where you stand in the eyes of banks and money lenders and landlords.