Planning ahead isn’t always a good thing

Good morning Dinks.  As you know I have always been a poster child for planning ahead, organizing my life and making lists of things to do.  My family thinks I’m crazy and my coworkers think that I am obsessive compulsive, but I like planning ahead because the unknown kind of scares me.  But you know what scares me even more than the unknown? Losing money!

Adjusts well to change is not on my resume

I personally don’t really like change, I like a routine.  Sometimes I complain about being bored, but still, I like my normal routine.  I am the girl in the office who cringes every time someone calls a team meeting to tell us that there are new things to come.

This year my personal philosophy of planning ahead kicked my bank account’s butt.  It’s September and I have lost over $300 this year just because I took the initiative to plan ahead.  Dinks – do you know why planning ahead isn’t always a good thing? When plans change.

I have to tell you, I am really starting to rethink my personal philosophy of always planning ahead.  I usually like to plan ahead because it gives me something to look forward to, but when plans change and I have to cancel my travel accommodations or reservations, I lose money and I just get angry.

So how can I still plan ahead and not lose money if my plans change?

Please someone help me, I am open to all suggestions.  This year I am almost $500 in the red and it’s only September.  My planning ahead usually seems like a good idea but now I’m not so sure.

I was planning a weeklong trip along the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego in May, but now I’m not so sure. I have a $30 credit from United Airlines that I have to use before the expiration date but I am so nervous to book a flight in case my plans change that it might just expire.  The flight has to be booked by September 12, and I have to travel within a year from that date.  But I really don’t want to plan another trip in advance.

Here is a rundown of financial mistakes that I’ve made this year thanks to my planning in advance.

$150 for a non-refundable flight.  Remember my trip to NYC, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. that I had planned this fall? Well it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen and my one way ticket back to Montreal from D.C.

$150 for my ticket to a BlogHer workshop that I couldn’t sell.  I purchased an early bird conference ticket and a ticket to a workshop about how to turn your blog into a book – because my goal in life is to become an author.  I was able to see the early bird ticket, but unfortunately I am out the $150 for the workshop.

$65 to change the times (not the dates) of a train trip I booked.  I booked my train ticket in advance when they were having a sale – smart right? Well it turns out that because of the cheap fare the ticket is not refundable and not exchangeable so I had to purchase a new ticket.

$110 for a conference pass that I booked and now can’t attend. PS – It’s not FinCon, although I am also not able to attend FinCon this year in St. Louis because another girl at my office booked off the same weekend.

Photo by imagesofmoney

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.