Moolanomy Personal Finance

Stupid Tax: Car Inspection, Commute, and Margin Interest

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It’s official, last week was my stupid tax week. I am not talking about the tax rebate, or tax refund. Basically, I did a couple of stupid things that cost me money.

Car Inspection

I look at the red safety inspection sticker every time I get into the car. For some reason, I never registered that mine has expired. My father in law was going back to Thailand on Sunday, so we went out to celebrate. That was the first time I parked on the street for a long while. I even made sure I overfed the meter to avoid getting a ticket. Sadly, when I got back to the car, I saw a bright orange NYC parking ticket.

The result? $65 for expired safety inspection sticker. Stupid.

Commute

Normally, I drive to my job in Brooklyn I know it’s bad for the environment and more expensive, but it does save me 2 hours a day. Last Thursday, I drove 30 minutes to work only to realize that I have a meeting in Manhattan. I ended up parking my car at work and took a 45 minutes train rider into the city. I could’ve taken the train directly from home in about 30 minutes.

The result? I wasted almost 2 hours plus the cost of gas. Stupid.

Margin Interest

I was working on my income taxes the other day and had to tally up my margin interest expenses. My brokerage account plays a central role in my finance, so I occasionally overdraw my cash fund and dip into the margin account — essentially borrowing from the brokerage firm. This way, I don’t have to liquidate my stocks knowing that my paycheck will be deposited into the account in a few days.

The result? I paid $69 in margin interest expenses in 2007. While this is not bad, I could have done a better job and avoid paying this altogether.

Well, I guess stuff happens. At least, I am not alone on stupid tax. It happens even to the best of us:

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inspection sticker, car inspection, brokerage firm, interest expenses, brokerage account, waste

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Pinyo
Pinyo is the brain behind Moolanomy personal finance blog and a few other web sites. If you like this article, please subscribe for free daily email updates.

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7 Comments

  1. gravatar
    Debt Free Revolution
    February 13, 2008, 8:14

    Yup, it does happen to everyone at some point, Pinyo. Live, learn, and blog about it LOL

  2. gravatar
    February 13, 2008, 10:02

    Yup, It does-
    I got caught for a speeding ticket a few months ago. In Massachusetts, in addition to the painful $110 fine, my insurance will go up around $100 a year for the next three years!

    ouch-
    Lisa

  3. gravatar
    February 13, 2008, 13:29

    It seems to happen to all of us a some stage Pinyo.
    I got stuck with a £60 fine last week for ‘driving in a bus lane’, I didn’t even know it was a bus lane but they had pictures ;(

  4. gravatar
    February 14, 2008, 7:10

    @Lisa – that’s really sucks big time. Sorry to hear.

    @Nomorespending – Caught by traffic cam?

  5. gravatar
    February 14, 2008, 10:24

    We all make these little goofs from time to time. Not too long ago it came time to renew the registration on both of our vehicles. I waited until nearly the last day and went to the DMV and of course there was a 2 hour wait. I was “too busy” to wait in line so I left without getting it done. Something managed to come up that kept me from getting it done the next few days and of course I was late. There was a $35 late fee for each car. Thankfully I’m not so irresponsible all of the time, but this one cost me $70.

  6. gravatar
    February 15, 2008, 21:17

    I hate lines at DMV. There are lines for everything there.

  7. gravatar
    April 6, 2008, 8:19

    Just sounds like it was a bad week. If I spent as much time analysing my financial decisions I would probably find numerous examples of how I could have shaved lots of money off my baseline costs, but hey I also want to enjoy life. I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself, just look at how much you are generating from blogging now!

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