I got home one day and my apartment door was unlocked. I found this out because I hold on to the door before trying to open it because my key sticks and it is easier to get a good grip that way.
When I put the key in and tried to turn it turned easily because the door was already unlocked. Now since I check the door after locking it I was immediately afraid since there was no reason for anyone to be in my apartment.
I called the office and told them to send someone over since I did not want to enter the apartment alone. When the maintenance guy came over he went in to check ahead of me and told me that he had come in to replace the filter and had mistakenly left the door unlocked. He was a new guy so I guess he just got his flow a little messed up with all the apartments he had to check.
(image taken from thisoldhouse.com)This got me thinking about my finances and how I have them automated. I have tried to get everything set up so that I do not have to mess with it and everything can just flow. This is like locking the door in the morning and not thinking about it all day until I get home. While my system is good with the flows from ING going to pay the credit cards and the credit cards being used to pay all the bills, I still need to check in from time to time. This would be trying the door before I try to unlock it to make sure that it was locked before I go in.
My financial institutions might have outages and glitches like the new maintenance man who might throw my carefully set up plan into turmoil. What would have happened if he did not close the door properly and someone saw that and decided to go into my apartment? In the same vein, what happens if there is a setback with work and my paycheck does not get posted on time?
What happens if ING does not initiate a transfer on time?
What happens if a check is not credited to the correct account?
By keeping an eye on my automated finances I can see if things are running smoothly or if my financial door has been left unlocked.
Great point, sometimes we can neglect the “automated payments and it might wind up hurting us. I wonder what would happen… if a company did miss an automated payment… and if they would redeem us the customer for their mistake.
Till then,
Jean
As great as technology is, you’re right — it’s a smart idea to keep an eye on your automated finances just to make sure everything is going smoothly. Systems can fail sometimes.
Fantastic article…. I totally agree that whilst automatd finances means you don’t have to think/worry about your financial outgoings 24/7, it does make sense to keep ontop of them so you fully understand where you money is going.
Thanks maintenance man 🙂
Nice analogy about keeping things locked up the right way.
I certainly wouldn’t want for a maintenance man to have a key to my apt or house! Once a MM shut off the water to the toilet in my Mother’s condo while she was away, and didn’t bother to tell her. When she returned, she found out about it the hard way. If you abrogate responsibility to someone who does not have your best interest at heart, you lose control and make yourself vulnerable to the mistakes or misdeeds of others.
Very helpful point of manage financial condition. Thanks.