Thinking Out Loud » money http://www.web-bandit.com/lee Miscellaneous ramblings by Lee Lynds (and others) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:47:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 How much does a penny cost? http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/2008/03/17/how-much-does-a-penny-cost/ http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/2008/03/17/how-much-does-a-penny-cost/#comments Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:41:56 +0000 Lee http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/2008/03/17/how-much-does-a-penny-cost/ I hardly ever look at my bank statements. I tend to simply trust the ATM machine, and when it tells me that the requested cash is not available, and to please choose another amount or account, that’s just fine with me.

But today was grocery day, and I did want to know what was left in my account after my trip to Alberta. Going away always cost more than you think it should.

There was still some money left. Not as much as I hoped for, but it should cover the groceries.

I decided to get a rough estimate on how much I spent while I was away, and as I was going through the online statement, this caught my eye…

An outstanding bill

I have the utility bills (and I think my property taxes) on an automatic debit with the City of Moose Jaw. So it’s not unusual to see a line in the debit column for that.

But a penny?

I assume that someone has to enter the information into a computer in order for the City to get the money owed to them. It’s their job, I realize, but wouldn’t you feel a little embarrassed asking for $0.01. No matter how fast you work, or how little you make, it HAS to cost more than a penny to process that. And there’s probably at least one printed copy of the transaction at the City, and one eventually to me. The bank will no doubt have a printed copy, and someone will (I hope) verify that the penny was taken from my account with proper authority.

So, just how much did the penny cost?

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