Mistakes happen. Some of them matter, and some of them don’t.  But it’s the mistakes that you don’t think matter, but do, that kick you in the money crotch (sorry, I have been wanting to use money crotch for a while now). Here are the top 5 mistakes that people don’t realize that they are making.

1. Forgetting to file your Homestead Mortgage Exemption. If you have a mortgage, and you haven’t filed this exemption with the county, then you are likely paying THOUSANDS of dollars more in taxes than you need to.

2. Buying company stock inside your 401k. This is a bad idea. You don’t need your retirement and your current income hinging on the same thing: the performance of your employer. If you insist on ignoring me on this one, then make sure you don’t have any more than 10% of your 401k in the company stock. But how about you just don’t ignore me. Trust me, I’m a doctor. No I’m not. But, seriously, just trust me.

3. Ignoring collection calls. If you have a debt that goes into collection, don’t ignore it. People will tell you that you can ignore the calls to gain leverage, but those people are wrong. Collections aren’t like the common cold. They just don’t go away. You need to call them back.

4. Letting a home builder or car dealer tell you how much you can afford. This is possibly one of the most heinous errors that you can make. Yet, most people have done this. Know what you can afford before you walk in the door. If you make this mistake, I don’t blame the seller, I blame you. Prevent yourself from getting blamed by me.

5. Loaning money to family or friends. I have always been a hard-ass about this. I have seen this scenario occur numerous times over the years, and it rarely works out well. And don’t get tempted to be part of my rarely. There is a reason that a lending institution won’t give them money to borrow. You should take a hint from that, and decline their request.

Avoid these things like the plague.

Sometimes rational thinking isn’t enough. Sometimes fear doesn’t motivate. And sometimes, embarrassment is inevitable because the thought of embarrassment isn’t enough to ward it off.

Every single person uses something different when it comes to motivation. Some people are able to rationalize that saving money will lead to a brighter future…and then act on it. Believe it or not, this is a small group of people. Others need to get so scared of future misery that they force themselves to act on their financial priorities. So what do you do if none of your techniques are working? Allow me to introduce you to guilt.

Prepare to be blasted. Don’t worry. This is how guilt works.

Remember the last time you lost $100 at the casino? Yeah, that was a bad idea. You haven’t even started to save for the college educations of your three children.

Remember that new purse you just bought? Yeah, that was a bad idea. Your parents just gave you $1500 to get out of credit card debt, and you bought a stinking purse. You should have given them the money.

Remember how you buy new golf clubs every 2 years, but you get mad when your wife wants to buy the kids nice school clothes? Yeah, that makes you selfish.

Remember how you pay $80/month for someone to clean your house, but you refuse to pay $35/month to buy the right amount of life insurance? Not cool, Holmes.

Remember how you have a $600 car payment, but you refuse to buy your kid braces for his crooked crooked crooked teeth? At least you will be driving his crooked grill around in a nice car.

See, guilt sucks. It does. But it sucks because it’s true. If you can possibly relate (or know someone that can relate) to any of these situations, then please take action. Use guilt to accomplish your goals. It works.