Thrifty Thursday #13 ~ Double Check

    Today's post is a simple reminder to double check your receipts and statements.

    I am very careful about planning my shopping around sales and coupons to ensure my money goes as far as it can.  It is equally important to make sure all of my purchases ring up accurately!

    Sale items won't ring up correctly if they haven't already been entered into the computer.  Sometimes the reduced price needs to be entered manually, and this can be missed if the cashier isn't aware of a sale or doesn't see the discount sticker on a product.  Other times, a cashier might accidentally scan the same item twice!  This happened to me the other day with an item that was on clearance.  The price was right but the cashier had accidentally charged me for two instead of one.  I was watching so I was able to catch it and politely asked if she could check, which she did.  I am one of those shoppers who watches the total as I am checking out just to make sure!  Sometimes I miss a mistake, but if the total seems off, I know to check my receipt to make sure everything is accurate and that any coupons I used went through.

    The same thing goes for looking over bank or credit card statements to make sure there are no fraudulent charges or discrepancies.  I have saved literally hundreds of dollars this way.  Once I found a charge for $600 for an Airbnb in Georgia, which very obviously was not ours.  That was the biggest one, but there have been smaller charges too.  The sooner you are aware of them, the sooner they can be stopped.  Fortunately in our experiences, both the bank and the businesses involved were good about removing the charges and getting us our money back.

    Even things that might not be fraudulent need to be checked.  For example, if a subscription service renews because you forgot to cancel it, it will show up on your statement as a reminder.  Or if you have cancelled and keep getting charged, you will know and can take action.  The same goes for any fees or service charges you may not have been aware of when you signed up for something.  You'll never know if you don't double check!

    What are some of the ways you have saved money by double checking your receipts and statements?  Do you find mistakes often?