The moment it dawned on me what was going on, I knew we were in big trouble.
Back story: We've been receiving overdrawn notices from a bank account we were no longer using for quite a while now. Every other day it seemed we were being charged $28 - $56 dollars for someone trying to clear a check. My husband couldn't find the checkbook that the checks were being drawn from so we had no way to contact the creditor. There are multiple reasons and complicated histories as the why's and how's to this story but the end result happened the other day.
I was finally updating that check register. Each entry of a bank charge brought a heavy sigh as the debt mounted. Then as I was verifying a check from my own (or the household) account, I realized what had been going on. At some point, my husband had taken my checkbook out of my wallet. And somehow it was replaced with this other, unusable checking account. That was over two to three months ago.
And so I, unknowingly, had been the one writing all these rubber checks. I knew his account was messed up because, well, he doesn't have the best financial habits. But I thought I had a pretty good grip on the household account. Actually, I thought I was doing better than I should. The bills were paid, but for some reason I had this big cushion.
Well, the knowledge of that big cushion turned into psychological spending privileges. I'm ashamed to admit not only for my husband but a little for me as well.
So when I realized what had happened and the sickness was being replaced by fear and anger, I ran to the bank so no more checks would be bouncing. As it turned out the verdict was worse than I had anticipated. I thought I would simply write a check from the household account to cover the checks but it turned out being about $2500.00 before bank charges. That was a lot more than I had to work with. And the checks that were bouncing were important ones like to the IRS or to help a friend in financial need. The panic started all over again.
If I had just noted the checkbook when it was put back into my wallet, I could have prevented all of this mayhem. You know the saying - 'An ounce of Prevention, is worth a Pound of Cure'.
As I was driving the 30 minutes between home and bank, I was trying to pull myself emotionally out of the state I was in. I figured there was some type of lesson I could learn from this and I could probably blog about it somehow. So I began to consider how this event applied to other areas in my life. Where had I been deducting from the wrong account and accumulating unnecessary debt or bondage? What other scenarios could be avoided by simply doing a little thing to prevent it.
I found the following parallels:
(Granted these little things are useless at finding a cure if I stand alone - but not doing them won't find a cure either. I'd much rather err on the side of right so I have a clean conscience than to join the ranks of diseases.)
Freedom. I remembered I had a similar gut-wrenching reaction when I realized that my choices were limiting or preventing my own and the nation's freedom. There I was taking handouts from the government, not actively participating in the governing affairs at all, and enjoying the (supposed) freedom it was giving me, all the while not aware of the opportunity costs (or bank charges) it was incurring. When I realized that I was the one cutting my own throat, it turned out to be a bigger cost than it would have been had I been personally responsible in the first place. I was bought out - and I felt sick about it. If I had used an ounce of prevention by not supporting a system that has overstepped its boundaries, then it would never have the power to abuse me. 
Money talks. Similarly I found that I like a good price over product anyday. Yes, that qualifies me as a tightwad. I find that I can do without just about anything if I don't like the pricetag attached to it. I despise debt.
This tendency has been debilitating to my own value system on multiple levels. Aside from keeping me stuck in scarcity mentality, experiencing a lot of lacks, operating in fear, etc... I found I could be bought out because the price was the ultimate priority.
It took some intense internal analysis to decide that there are more important things than saving money. When my getting the best deal gave others an advantage to attack my core values, it was time to re-evaluate my priorities. The best comparison I've heard is -
'sharpening the enemies sword'
So he could stab me in the back.
By supporting them financially, I was supporting what they would be using the money for. Now if that had been to build their business to provide jobs for others, increase their financial empire, or even to do some other noble purpose, that would be fine. I'm good with that.
But when they use those funds to promote such evils as gay rights, or other liberal misguided philanthropy, all causes that I'm opposed to, I've joined the ranks of being a 'useful idiot' in the political world. I didn't see the opportunity cost of buying things cheaply. My ounce of prevention here is support those businesses that support my values - even if it is more expensive. The peace of mind far outweighs the cost of the product.
World Views. There are A LOT of world views out there. Philosophies, ideologies, opinions. What surprises me is the amount of people who adopt a world view without doing their homework. Or flip from one to another without realizing where their own allegiance lies. Not standing for anything so they fall for everything.
This is probably the biggest opportunity cost because it involves our very direction in life. If we view life's purpose to be to obtain pleasure... wealth... popularity... build empires... give service... obedience to a higher power... or just to get through with as little injuries as possible - it greatly affects what deposits are being made into what account, what withdrawls are being deducted, and of course, what the charges will result because of it.
If we are depositing our faith and support into one world view, deducting at pleasure, but it is in the wrong bank account - the penalties will be great indeed.
The ounce of prevention here lies in obtaining true truths - not just declaring what 'truth' works to your supposed best advantage. And then live your life accordingly.
Hypocrisy is a challenging thing to overcome, but the life of consistent loyalty to THE world view earns many dividends rather than penalties.
I know these little preventions are insignificant to the diseased world we live in. But the ounce of prevention is a small and simple things that bring great things to pass.
