Finance Gets Personal

The latest cost of chronic lateness:

A speeding ticket yesterday morning.

78 in a 60, with a $150 fee. $300 if I want to get it taken down to a non-moving violation.

Ouch.

On Thursday night, I decided to put some extra effort into getting to work on time.

What does that have to do with finances, you ask?

Everything! Being chronically late can cost mucho dinero in terms of lost raises/promotions, missed appointment fees and the like.

So how did Operation Get Out of Bed go?

It was a mild success, and has potential.

On Friday morning, I was supposed to get up at 7:00, but hit snooze until 7:30. I remember hitting snooze, which is an improvement, and also got up about half an hour earlier than normal (also an improvement). I didn’t hear my cell phone alarm, which was supposed to go off every five minutes starting at 7:15. I also didn’t smell the coffee, because the bedroom door was closed. But I read the paper, ate my waffles, and it was quite enjoyable! I was 10 minutes late for work, which is a major improvement and about standard in my office.

This morning, I made sure the door was open when I went to bed, and made sure my cell phone alarm worked. But I didn’t need the cell phone alarm because I got up the first time my bedside alarm went off! Having the light on a timer at 6:30 is really helpful in waking me up. However, I was still 10 minutes late, so I need to work on figuring out what time I have to leave by to get to work on time.

I must say, getting to work (sorta) on time really makes my whole day go better. And I also understand why people drink coffee now - I’m so awake!

I’ve mentioned before that I have a problem with being chronically late.

I’m not sure exactly what’s causing me to be late almost every day, but I do know one thing: I hit the snooze button in my sleep.

Like this morning, when my alarm clock was set for 7 a.m. I remember waking up at 6:00 a.m. and thinking, “It’s not time to get up yet.” Then, I think I remember hearing the alarm at 7:00 and pushing snooze. The next time I wake up, it’s 8:24, and the alarm clock is still showing that it is in “snooze” mode (which means it should have been going off every 10 minutes or so).

I’m not really sure how to resolve this, but I need to. I’ve always heard advice about putting the alarm clock across the room or down the hall, but that doesn’t work for me because I run to turn it off and get back in bed. So, I have an experiment for tonight:

I programmed our coffee pot to start making coffee at 6:45 a.m. Although I don’t usually drink coffee, I’m hoping the smell/chance of fire will get me out of bed.

I bought a programmable timer for my bedside lamp at Target for $10. I’m going to set it to turn on at 6:30 a.m. I’m hoping this will simulate sunlight and help me get up.

I’m going to set the alarm clock on my cell phone too, just in case.

We get the newspaper on weekends, so I’ll wear something decent to bed tonight that I can go out and get the paper in the morning and read it over breakfast.

I bought frozen strawberry waffles and syrup to eat for breakfast, since I usually just eat a cereal bar in my car on the way to work.

If I’m on time tomorrow, I’m going to reward myself with a glass of wine during intermission of the play we’re going to that night.

Here goes nothing…

Photo Credit: Maker of the day - Matty Sallin, Bacon-cooking alarm clock by pt, used under Creative Commons licensing

You know that person that comes into work 20 minutes late every day, keeps you waiting at the restaurant and interrupts church by trying to find a seat during the prayer?

That’s me.

I am chronically late.

I don’t do it to piss you off, because I think my time is more valuable than yours or because it gives me some kind of power trip. I actually hate being late.

The problem is, I don’t like being early either.

Lateness is a problem I’ve struggled with my whole life. My parents were always late, I’m always late, and I admit that I often don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

But tell that to my high school aerobics teacher who gave me detentions for it, my old boss at the bank who told me that being late could keep me from getting a big raise someday (so far it hasn’t), and the annoying morning people at my work who think it’s a sin for me to be more than two minutes late (but who also think that it’s OK for them to leave early, take half-hour personal phone calls and go to the gym during work hours).

I have to admit, however, that there are some financial costs associated with being chronically late. Like these, for example:

• Speeding tickets - I’ve only had one, but my husband has not been so lucky. He once had three in a three-month period. When I’m late, I am much more likely to speed.
• Missed appointment fees - Since I don’t get home from work until after 6:00 p.m. and work far away from my home, I have to schedule my appointments early in the morning. This is not a good thing. A few years ago, I had to go to physical therapy for my shoulder three times a week. Getting there by 7:45 a.m. was tough, and sometimes I had to cancel because I didn’t wake up in time. After the first few incidents, I started getting charged missed appointment fees, and my physical therapy came to an abrupt end.
• Getting fired or missing out on a raise - As I mentioned earlier, most of my bosses have been pretty flexible with my problem because I’m such a good employee otherwise. But I have had at least one instance where my lateness affected my pay. Back when I worked in retail, there was an employee incentive that if you were only late two times between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you’d be paid an extra 25 cents an hour (or something like that). Well, I busted my ass to get to work on time because I was broke. I was only late once. However, they counted me as being late two other times - once because I was late after getting lost on the way to work coming from the company Christmas party at another store location (!), and once because they called and asked me to come in for someone who had called in sick and I told them I could probably be there by 4:00 but was actually in a few minutes after that (!!). I didn’t get the incentive money and, boy, was I TICKED!
• Late pick-up fees - This one doesn’t affect me too much, because my husband usually picks up my stepson from school, but parents are charged $1 for every minute they are late in picking up their child from the after-school program. We’ve probably paid about $30 for this over the last four years.

I’ve tried a lot of things to break my habit, but here’s one that might actually work: charging myself money when I am late. But, as Idub pointed out in a comment about going to the gym, that money would have to be donated to charity or something, otherwise I’d be snowflaking (and who doesn’t love that)!

(This post was included in the Money Hacks Carnival, hosted by Quest For Four Pillars.)

Photo Credit: my favorite t-shirt by Johnn P, used under Creative Commons licensing