Cake Wrecks

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/10/13/dining/20091014-CAKE_index.html
Some of these are hilarious...especially the "Nothing" one!

Financial Faux Pas

Have you ever made a costly mistake with your own finances, cash, credit, etc.?

I ruined my credit freshman year with bunch a credit cards I didn't need.  I took me damn near 10 years to clean it up & some of the forgotten items still periodically come back to haunt me.  {Damn Zales!  I don't even remember what the hell I bought.}

It took many a payment arrangements, negotiating, finagling and several tax return checks, but I knew I had to get it done if I didn't want garnishments out the ass.  I also knew I needed to take care of it so I wouldn't need Vaseline when I was ready to purchase my home.  In the end, my efforts paid off.

One other incident (kinda careless on my part) happened at the ATM.  I drove up at about 630 am after I put the boy on the school bus.  I checked my balance, got my weekend pocket money & headed to work.  It was the 1st of the month, so I took a smoke break (even though I don't) to write checks (pre on-line banking) for my bills.  I have a habit of checking my balances everyday {and twice on Sunday} and before I pay large bills.  Keep in mind I had just checked when I was at the ATM a few hours before.  I dial up, listen & my checking account is short $300 (part of my rent money)!  My heart started racing.  I checked my savings & it was $300 short also.  WTF?!?!  All I could think was "$600 in the damn wind!"

I dumped the contents of my purse on my desk.  Damn....I drove off & left the damn card in the machine, without cancelling the transaction.  I called my friend/co-worker in a panic. She called her husband (banking pro) and he told me what to do. 

I called the bank & explained to about 50-11 people what happened.  The next day I had to go in and sign an affidavit.  A day or so later, my banker called & said my $$ would be back in my account by 300 pm.  Thank you Lord!   I certainly didn't expect it because it was my fault.  The money didn't make or break me, but damn, that's a lot to lose in one sitting.

The person who took the money certainly wasn't expecting to find my open access card in the machine & they were caught on camera.

4 Ways to Recover from Mistakes

 

1. Own it! - Resist the urge to blame others.
   
2. Correct it! - Take whatever action necessary to fix it.
   
3. Apologize for it! - A humble apology demonstrates that you understand the seriousness of the mistake and accept responsibility for it.
   
4. Take preventative measures! - Analyze what contributed to this mistake & take whatever steps you can to prevent it from happening again.

Remember, we are only human.  To err is human, but to repent is divine!