Here is a list of potentially problematic things that grow exponentially if you do not pay attention to them on time. These are all commonplace things that have just one lesson associated with them: a stitch in time saves nine. Perhaps there are more lessons involved like: procrastination is a thief of time …and money, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…it’s the same thing all over; look at it any which way you like.
Bills: Everyone must have gone through piles of bills at some point of time in life. Pay your bills as soon as you get them. When you get into a habit of “ah..it’s not due for another month” they start piling up and then we conveniently start forgetting about them.
Debt: The best time to attack debt is right when it shows signs of existence. Remember, compounding and time are debt’s best friends. Together they can wreck a havoc in your life. Prepare a plan of action (lifestyle adjustment, increased income, reduced spending, etc.) and start working against it right now.
Junk mail: Don’t follow my example here. I wait for the weekend to shred the junk mail and it piles up till then. Sometimes I forget about it and then I spend a couple of hours on the following weekend shredding stuff like crazy. Shred it as soon as you receive it…it won’t take a lot of time and it will prolong your shredder’s life.
Dishes: A few dishes are easy to wash and don’t take too much time or efforts, but a few days of dishes take an awful amount of resources. If everyone washes their respective dishes after every meal…probably there won’t even be a need for a dishwasher. Piles of dishes in the sink are also an open invitation for cockroaches…and then you have to wash the dishes and kill the roaches…and then keep killing the roaches.
Stitches: The origin of all do-it-on-time advice. It saves clothes, efforts, and embarrassments by stitching damaged stuff on time. You don’t need a sewing machine…just a needle and *generally* matching thread will do.
Car repairs: Again, I have fallen into this pit more than once. If you don’t repair your car on time, you will pay more later. “I hate going to car mechanics” …is a valid complaint, but it’s not a valid excuse to avoid taking care of your car.
Health issues: What applies to car mechanics also applies to doctors (hate them..but need them). If you are concerned about an health issue, go to your doctor and get things clarified. There are a lot of things that could be remedied with a few bucks of pills (and free medical advice) if administered on time …or you could wait and pay thousands for a surgery later.
Emotions: If you have strong feelings about something…talk to someone about it as soon as possible. Flush it out of your system when you can and don’t let them pile up for too long. At times, built up emotions blow issues out of proportion and cause irreparable damage to relationships.
Anything else on your mind that should go in this list?
Image sources: Bills: www.pueblo.gsa.gov; Debt: starbulletin.com; Junk mail: www.sandysknitting.com; Dishes: www.boojee.org; Stitches: www.thefreedictionary.com; Junk car: www.albany.ga.us; Doctor: www.benedictfamily.org; Emotions: waa.uwalumni.com
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Yes! this is a great list and very very true.
*surveys immense pile of junk mail and sinkful of unwashed dishes*
Looks like you hit the nail on the head on this one. Also laundry which must be either handwashed or ironed, or taken to the cleaner.
What a great list. Different people have different piles. I absolutely never let bills pile up. I manage my personal life like a buisness. My previous boss, who was a killer at work, never paid his personal bills on time. He’d have your head at work if you paid a single bill late, but he let little stuff go at home. He drove on an expired license for a year.
For me, it’s health issues. I always let work get in the way of making dentist appointments, or going to the doctor for a physical.
Do Not Mail Opt-Out Law would be fair to everyone.
The proposed recent “Do not mail” is an Opt-Out law. Only those not desiring advertising mail need opt-out. Anyone desiring advertising mail can do nothing - and continue to receive it. Why deny those wishing to avoid advertising mail the power to do so?
I do not consider handling unwanted advertising placed against my will on my personal property to be a civic obligation!
The US Supreme Court said in the Rowan case in 1970, ““In today’s [1970] complex society we are inescapably captive audiences for many purposes, but a sufficient measure of individual autonomy must survive to permit every householder to exercise control over unwanted mail. To make the householder the exclusive and final judge of what will cross his threshold undoubtedly has the effect of impeding the flow of ideas, information, and arguments that, ideally, he should receive and consider. Today’s merchandising methods, the plethora of mass mailings subsidized by low postal rates, and the growth of the sale of large mailing lists as an industry in itself have changed the mailman from a carrier of primarily private communications, as he was in a more leisurely day, and have made him an adjunct of the mass mailer who sends unsolicited and often unwanted mail into every home. It places no strain on the doctrine of judicial notice to observe that whether measured by pieces or pounds, Everyman’s mail today is made up overwhelmingly of material he did not seek from persons he does not know. And all too often it is matter he finds offensive.â€
Furthermore, the Supreme Court said, “the mailer’s right to communicate is circumscribed only by an affirmative act of the addressee giving notice that he wishes no further mailings from that mailer.
To hold less would tend to license a form of trespass and would make hardly more sense than to say that a radio or television viewer may not twist the dial to cut off an offensive or boring communication and thus bar its entering his home. Nothing in the Constitution compels us to listen to or view any unwanted communication, whatever its merit; we see no basis for according the printed word or pictures a different or more preferred status because they are sent by mail.â€
We need a nationwide “Do Not Mail†law to create a one-stop, convenient place for homeowners to give senders the aforementioned affirmative notice that we do not want certain kinds of mail sent to our homes.
http://www.newdream.org/emails/ta19.html
Signed,
Ramsey A Fahel
It’s similar to the car repair one, but home repair definitely fits this list. In both cases, a small problem only gets bigger - it never goes away on its own.
Dimes: Yep…forgot the laundry. Students *really* know what happens to laundry when it starts getting piled up.
Chris: Ha…coincidence! my boss did the same thing. The only difference is that he got caught and paid for it. To make matters worse, he was pulled over for speeding…and then also got ticketed for driving around with expired license.
Ramsey: I agree with you…there should something like the “national do not call” list for snail mail junk too.
KMC: Yeah..that one too. Especially, stuff like leaks, termites, and stuff.
Excellent post, I especially can relate to the bills note. I recall back in the day when I would put bills off or wait till the very last day prior to them being due, well not anymore. I make it priority to pay all mu bills as soon as I get them. This way they never pile up and I never forget about them.
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