"Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth."
- Erma Bombeck
Back when I was 16 years old and first starting to drive with a learner's permit, I set out to drive around our quiet neighborhood streets. My mother sat in the passenger seat and tried not to act too frightened. While I was going along a straight road, things generally went well. However, stop signs were met with a sudden slamming of the brakes halfway through the intersection, and turns usually involved a detour of about 10 or 15 feet onto the grass of the corner lot properties. Realizing my reaction time could not possibly be that bad, my mother inquired whether I even had my eyes open.
After about 10 or 15 minutes of this nonsense, it finally occurred to me that I was looking at the road only about 5 feet in front of my car! For some reason, it had not occurred to me that I was supposed to be looking much, much further down the road in order to be able to anticipate and react to things in time.
Unfortunately, this is exactly how many people approach budgeting. They only look a few feet in front of them. By the time the big transactions are in view, it's too late to react. They only have time to slam on the brakes or swerve off the road.
