Penny Wise Pound Foolish! – A Live Case Study

This morning, I had a meeting with a someone I had recently met at a conference. We decided to meet a a Starbucks. I parked my car about a block away and was half an hour early. I decided to put two quarters in the parking meter. I thought of putting three quarters, but decided against it.

Half an hour later, my friend showed up. After ing our coffee, we sat down and had a great time chatting about various stuff. Well, time flew and before you know it, we had been chatting for forty five minutes. It was time to go and lo and behold, I found a parking ticket by my windshield.

I looked at the parking ticket and the fine was $26! Alright, it’s not too bad but I was really pissed at myself. Had I just put in another quarter, I would not have to pay this fine. A quarter is a lot better than a $26 fine.

It made me wonder what was going through my mind when I put that two quarters after I just parked. Why didn’t I put three quarters (or even four) just in case? Why did I want to take the risk? In analyzing the situation, I realized that what I did was irrational. There was a good chance that I will end up chatting with my friend and forget about the time. There was also a good chance of me getting a ticket. The fine was substantially more than a quarter. Yet, I found myself trying to save this quarter and it was really for no good reason. Because even if my friend did not show up, the worst I would have been was to lose a quarter. But looked what happened instead.

On hindsight, this is a classic example of being penny wise and pound foolish. Trying to save a few pennies, but end up losing much more. There are many examples in my life where this happened. Like trying to invest on my own for ten years without seeking help. I thought that I could be as good as Warren Buffet or investing was as easy as Peter Lynch said! How much did it cost me? A lot!

What examples of “penny wise pound foolish” mistakes have you made?