Costly Mistakes

I have made some costly mistakes in the past thirty days. I thought I would share so maybe you could avoid them too.

1) Started selling Pampered Chef -$563.25
2) Forgot to return 15 library books -$30.00
3) Did not bring cash to homeschooling convention -$200 (on stuff not on my list)
4) Spent more than I had in my account at homeschool convention -$70

1) I thought starting to sell Pampered Chef would be a good way to make money, and maybe one day it will be. But in the past thirty days I have spent $813.25 on the starter kit, business supplies, and more product, so I could have more to show at my cooking shows. I have made $250 in commission (which I will have direct deposited in my account in June.) I also have earned $415 in free Pampered Chef products. So out of pocket I have actually spent $563.25. Plus I have over $1,200 worth of Pampered Chef product.
I really didn't have an extra $563.25 to spend so having all that product doesn't really ease this costly mistake. Plus I would not have bought all that product anyway (although I do love lots of it.)
Hopefully I can sell some of the free product I got (I still have $300 left in free product) and pay myself back some of the $563.25 I lost.
The real goal is to not buy any more pampered Chef product!

2) In my car I had 15 library books on different states. We used them for state reports, but apparently it has been 40 days since the were due. This cost me $30 in late fees at the library today. Keeping track of when they were due (and even renewing online) would have saved me $30.

3) I decided that I was not going to buy anything at the homeschool convention, so I only brought enough cash to get in, buy lunch, and a drink. Mistake! I spent about $450 at the convention (plus the entrance fee,) $250 on stuff I actually planned to buy for fall. I should have just brought $250 cash (plus the entrance fee.) Because I used my debit card I went overboard and bought stuff I would not have with cash.

4) The worst part was because I was not keeping track I overdrew my checking account, costing me $70. I got charged $35 twice from my bank for these two transactions $13.99 and $10.69. Yikes! Fortunately I had a direct deposit today and my account is all in the clear. But if I had cash and kept better track I would have saved myself $70. I also probably would not have spent the $13.99 and $10.69 in the first place. (By the way I have only overdraft my account three times ever, so this was a shock.)

Have you made any costly mistakes lately? What have you learned and what will you do different next time?

-Becky