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My Car Tune Up Frugal Fail

By Anne 8 Comments

My Car Tune-Up Frugal Fail

As you may know, if you follow me on twitter (all the cool kids are doing it), I live in a small town. It has its pros and cons, which I know I will write about one day. One of the cons is that some services are far, far away. We bought a diesel Jetta a few years ago, because it destroyed the competition on all fronts when we were looking for a car.

The car is awesome. The downside? The closest dealership is an hour drive away. While the car is under warranty, we’re getting all of the work done by a dealership, to ensure we’re not voiding our warranty or any other costly mistakes like that!

So one Friday morning, on a day I didn’t have work, I got up and headed to the dealership, for a ten am appointment. On the way I thought, “Darn, I forgot to grab a water bottle; that was dumb.”

When I arrived, I was in luck! I was doing a quick clean-up of receipts and whatnot and low and behold, my spouse’s Nalgene was lying on the floor by the passenger’s seat. That’s a frugal win!

My plan for the day was to head to a coffee shop and blog for the nearly two hour tune up. I figured that would cost me $3-5, depending on what the menu looked like. No big deal.

Plus, typing on a laptop in a coffee shop is just so cliché, one needs to do it every once in a while.

I am not terribly familiar with the town, so I asked the person at the dealership service desk about coffee shops. He said, “Tim Hortons.”

I figured I may have to resign myself to Tims. Clearly, this guy and I are on different wavelengths when I say coffee shops. In my mind, “coffee shops” and “place to get coffee” are entirely different things. Perhaps that is not a universal differentiation.

Instead of committing to Tim Hortons, both locations here being places I have dashed in and out of many a time, I asked the courtesy shuttle driver to take me to a coffee shop. His suggestions?

“Tim Hortons, McDonalds, A&W and Dairy Queen. Oh, or Starbucks.”

Now that was getting even further off base!

I settled for Starbucks. What I was hoping for was a small, local coffee shop. I should have asked a friend before leaving, I guess. I arrived at Starbucks and promptly realized that I completely forgot to eat breakfast.

Well, that was dumb, and expensive.

The menu at Starbucks is pretty appalling! I can’t eat dairy, so out went the yogurt, which was the only healthy choice available. I’m not supposed to eat wheat, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. Everything else was horribly bad for you and full of wheat. Except for the rice krispie square, which would not do for breakfast and was, to quote my friend Kathleen, “the size of a baby.” Everything else had wheat, and sometimes large shiny crystals of sugar coating the top, or an icing glaze.

Nearly $10 later, I had a multigrain bagel and a grande for-here blackberry soy latte. Oops. If I had wheels, I probably would have gone to the grocery store and bought something to eat there, like a box of granola bars for the same price, which would get me through today and then some.

I’m not going to get home until possibly 3 o’clock, after running several errands. I should have brought lunch with me, or at the very least a few clif bars to tide me over. But no, I left the house with my netbook, wallet and cell phone. Today is probably going to set me back an extra $15, all because I didn’t think for five seconds before leaving the house.

$15 isn’t much. But that’s $15 I would much rather put toward something that I actually wanted to buy, like a trip or the new food processor I’ve been eyeing up.

Planning.  It saves you money.

Not planning can get expensive, especially in a few particular scenarios 😉

Do you have any frugal fail stories that were the result of poor planning?

Filed Under: Food, Lifestyle, Stories Tagged With: coffee shop, frugality

About Anne

Anne dreams of financial independence and is working her way towards it, whilst still enjoying life. She has a penchant for gift giving, which got her started with her first blog, Unique Gifter. She also loves money (who doesn't?) and needed an outlet to discuss it. Her likes? Seafood, figure skating, road cycling and skater shoes.

Comments

  1. Dan @ Our Big Fat Wallet says

    April 22, 2015 at 19:47

    Hopefully the car tuneup went ok. My latest frugal fail was yesterday when I didn’t plan out the meals for my lunches for the whole week which meant I had to buy an expensive lunch instead of bringing food from home. Frugal fail 🙂
    Dan @ Our Big Fat Wallet recently posted…RRSP vs. TFSA – The Basic Comparison GuideMy Profile

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  2. kay ~ lifestylevoices.com says

    April 22, 2015 at 19:07

    Oh, Anne, that made me sad! I know exactly how that feels. You think you’re doing everything right, and then stuff like that happens, and you end up spending way more than you planned to. {Hugs} seriously {Hugs}. 🙂
    kay ~ lifestylevoices.com recently posted…Jayleen Wants To Know About My Ingenius Financial Strategies ! 🙂My Profile

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  3. Tonya@Budget and the Beach says

    April 22, 2015 at 12:30

    Oh man the road to hell is paved with good intentions, yeah? 🙂 The Starbucks must not have had the little egg type sandwiches because those are actually pretty healthy. Cheap? No, but not a bad option. Oh well, live and learn. 🙂
    Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Get Over It!My Profile

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  4. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says

    April 21, 2015 at 04:49

    Planning is better than nothing, My frugal fail is that I always depend on the menu of our cafeteria, so whenever there is no dish for vegetarian, I’d eat out and spend some money. Imagine how much I’d save if I bring packed lunch to work.
    Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted…The Building Cost No One Thinks AboutMy Profile

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  5. Chela @SmashOdyssey says

    April 20, 2015 at 21:15

    I always keep snacks in my car and a case of water in the trunk! As if I had children–but I don´t, it´s just me! Haha. Protip! I know myself and I know when I get hangry, all budgeting goes out the window–so yes, in that way, I try to stay ahead of my future-hungry self. But yeah, seriously, Starbucks is expensive!
    Chela @SmashOdyssey recently posted…A Small Setback: My Stupid Foot and My Out of Whack WeekMy Profile

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  6. Jay @ ThinkingWealthy.com says

    April 20, 2015 at 17:01

    Tsk tsk! Should have planned – I kid.

    I spend $11 a day on lunch without blinking an eye but if I spend $12 one day, I notice! It’s weird that we all have our very specific thresholds that we like to stay under. (Like, I’ll pay $8 for a pint of beer but not $9!)

    Jay
    Jay @ ThinkingWealthy.com recently posted…Warren Buffett Is Gordon GekkoMy Profile

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  7. Anum says

    April 20, 2015 at 13:50

    Planning does save you so much money! Not having the memory capacity of a goldfish would also help. Sometimes I pack up snacks and lunch for myself and forget to take them with me when I head out! When that happens, I get so upset with myself that I just fill myself up with water instead of spending money I didn’t have to use.

    Reply
  8. Kristin says

    April 20, 2015 at 07:59

    Bummer! I have found that the local coffee shops cost just as much as Starbucks, so I don’t really save money on that front. Have you tried their protein boxes or fruit kits? They are a little healthier! I feel like I get into that situation every time I go to the airport. I always forget to pack a snack and end up paying for food that’s overpriced!
    Kristin recently posted…The 5 Best Money Making TipsMy Profile

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- Anne

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