I looked up the term "due diligence" this evening to make sure it means what I think it means. According to investopdedia.com, due diligence means "the care a reasonable person should take before entering into an agreement or a transaction with another party." Close enough. This isn't the New York Times here, so forgive me for taking a few liberties.
What we're going to be discussing tonight is "the care a reasonable person should take" with his or her own finances. You probably already know that you should be doing this: reconciling your checkbook, checking your credit card statement for errors, filling out the paperwork to get rebates coming to you, confirming your new doctor is in your insurance network, those kinds of things. There's no way to sugar-coat this: A responsible, orderly adult life requires a certain tolerance for tedium.
As it happens, my own tolerance for tedium is not especially high, especially when it involves numbers. Still, this is an area in which I'm trying to improve. I've come to think that the universe is nudging me along by by showing me how very much I'm rewarded when I put in the effort to do what needs to be done.
Example #1: The Case of The Misplaced Decimal
Last month, a gift I'd bought was returned to the store via mail. I called up the store to ask when I would see the credit and was given a date range, which I noted on my calendar. When the earliest day passed, I called my credit card, but no credit had been issued. I called a week later, and the expected credit still hadn't been posted. I did, however, have a credit--for $19.00, which would have been excellent if that's what I'd spent. Unfortunately, the amount had been not $19.00 but $190.00.
"Oops," is what the customer service agent said at the store's call center. I put my aneurysm on hold to clarify what the agent meant. "Decimal error," was the official finding. And I was reminded once again how unforgiving punctuation is when it comes to numbers.
Savings: $171.00, the difference between $19.00 and $190.00.
Example #2: Double-Checking Someone Else's Checking
When my family practitioner was 72, he gave me what he called the "5-year warning" that he was planning to retire; that was 4 years ago. Since then, it's been on my Dread List to look for another physician.
In January, I decided to start my search. I called my local hospital's referral service for a list of physicians associated with the hospital who take my insurance. I chose a physician and then--just to double-check--I called up my insurance provider, who told me they didn't have the physician listed in my network at all. When I called the physician's office itself, they confirmed that they used to carry my insurance, but as of the new year they no longer did. I called my insurance provider back and used their referral system to find my current doctor.
Savings: $65, the difference between the $90.00 I would have had to pay out-of-pocket and my $25.00 co-pay. And that's just for the first visit.
Example #3: The Just Do It Approach to Financial Paperwork
For whatever reason, I seem to have an inexplicable resistance to forms involving refunds. What happens is that I get the forms, read the instructions, plan my response, collect the associated paperwork and put everything on the top of my desk, which is where it stays. And stays. And stays. Until I successfully forget all about it.
Thus Alpay has taken over Form Duty in our house. Last month he filled out the paperwork for a rebate as soon as we got the form. We're expecting the payment soon--I have, of course, the earliest and latest dates it should arrive marked on my calendar, so that if it doesn't come, I can do my part and get on the phone.
(Expected) Savings: $50.00
How much due ddiligence has saved so far this year: $286.00