I’m pretty sure everyone here is already familiar with the concept of a stupid tax.
So… remember a couple weeks back when I mentioned I had spent over $100 during the low spend month, but I wasn’t ready to tell you about it yet? It was because I had done something incredibly stupid, and as a result my stomach felt like it was about to take up residence in my throat.
If you’ve been reading for a little while you’re already aware that The Boy and I are heading to Hawaii shortly for a friend’s wedding. This has been in the works for 8 or 9 months now. We’ve already paid for the flights and accommodation, and booked a number of activities while we’re there. It’s the first time we’ve gone on a non-family related excursion together, AKA it’s the first time we’ve gone on vacation together. It’ll also be the first time I’ve gone on a hot vacation to break up the winter doldrums. I’m doing my best to not get too excited and worked up at the moment.
So, you can imagine how I felt when I picked up my passport in the middle of January, and realized that it had expired two days prior.
*insert nausea here*
You’d think that would be something I’d check, right?
Nope, totally didn’t. I was *sure* that it was still good, so I never bothered to check.
I had a whole list of things to do that day, but they were instantly dropped. I grabbed the passport and went straight downtown. I’ve never wished the speed limit on the Whitemud was 110km/hr so much in my life. I parked underground at Canada Place, ran up to the passport office, and was immediate sickened by the line up that ran out the door for passport renewals. I grabbed a form and started filling it out while I waited in line at the photo shop to get my picture taken, texting friends and asking them to be my references. Two hours later, and I was standing at one of the tellers trying to not either throw up or burst into tears. She looked at my form, told me it wouldn’t be a problem, and that I’d have my new passport in two weeks. I didn’t believe her.
I didn’t sleep that night.
Six business days later, and my shiny new passport was at the post office waiting to be picked up. I know the pile of bureaucracy that is the Canadian government doesn’t frequently get kudos for its efficiency, but seriously, THANK YOU!!
I still feel mildly nauseated by the ordeal.
Needless to say, I look like I’m about to throw up in my passport photo. That’s okay. I’d rather look like crap on paper passing through customs than staying at home looking half decent. Let’s be honest, if I had to stay at home because of that I wouldn’t look half decent, I’d be beat up from kicking my own ass something fierce.
Lesson learned: Check your passport expiry before booking anything. Travel tips 101…
I’m going to try to go unwind now. With a bucket of ice cream and a spoon. Bikini be damned.
What is the biggest stupid tax you’ve ever avoided?
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Phew!! You dodged that bullet! lol!! Oh i’ve paid some mega stupid tax.. last time was almost $60 in LIBRARY FEES. *faint*
How on earth did you pay $60 in library fees? How much does your library charge per day? Or was it just a tonne of books?
Can I just say a big “WHEW!” of relief with you??? SO glad you didn’t lose your opportunity to see sunny Hawaii with BF. I’ve paid more stupid tax than I care to remember; library fees, meals out when I was too preoccupied to plan, and mega interest on debts that should’ve been paid LONG ago. But here’s to hoping those days are over.
. Can’t wait to hear about your trip!
Oooooh, interest is the ultimate stupid tax! I’m fairly certain I could have paid for a trip to Hawaii a couple times over with the money I spent in interest charges
I paid $400 to make my speeding ticket go away in Las Vegas. Normally, it would be no big deal. However, if I had a moving violation I would not have been eligible to continue driving the company car. And the fine would have been $250 anyway.
Yikes! That’s quite the speeding fine! I understand why you paid it though :s
The biggest stupid tax that I have avoided recently was last summer when I went down to Seattle for the weekend and turned on my cell phone randomly here and there to check my messages knowing that I was going to be charged international roaming fees which we all know are ridiculously expensive. When I came home I figured my fees were going to be about $15 extra which was fine with me. A few weeks after, I got the bill and almost burst into tears when I saw an extra $98 to my already $87 cell phone bill. I called them up, accepted full responsibility and kindly asked if they could reverse the fees because I’ve been a long time loyal customer. It must have been my lucky day because the guy said yes. These greedy cell phone companies never say yes lol. Since then, I have learned my lesson big time!
Have a wonderful trip with the boy in Hawaii Cassie!
Oh god, I would have been pissed. I’m actually thinking about just leaving my cell phone at home when I head to Hawaii. I left it at home when I went to Europe as well, and I managed *alright*.
Ouch, but it looks like you had enough time to avoid the extra courier fee? My worst was paying to get out of a cell phone contract, but parking tickets were not fun either.
I would have paid an extra courier fee just to make sure it made it to me on time, but she never mentioned one. She just said it would arrive on time, which it did.
I’ve only ever gotten one parking ticket. I had dumped a bunch of dimes into the meter before I realized they had changed them and no longer accepted dimes (years ago). I didn’t have any quarters on me, so I just ran and did my thing. When I came back, the ticket was waiting for me. I was pissed, because technically I HAD paid for parking. Thankfully it was only $10.
I set a reminder in my iPod for this, that my passport expires in 3 months and I need a new one, so I’ve never gone through this, but I sympathize!
My stupid tax is putting wrong addresses down and having to forward mail. $375 later, I’m annoyed and feeling dumb.
I like that idea! I think I’m going to implement it.
$375 for forwarding mail??? Is that international forwarding? I’ve never paid that much domestically.
I always forget to check my passport’s expiry date!
Check it! I’m assuming yours is still good though seeing as you’ve been vacationing internationally recently, lol.
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