Procrastination be seen as a habit or the act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. While some cases are minor, others, however, have a  habit of procrastination which has evolved to such extreme levels that it ends up having severe negative effects on the lives of such individuals. These effects can be seen in areas like health, relationships, finances, career etc. Regardless of the numerous areas of our lives which can be affected by procrastination, our main focus will be the financial scope of procrastination.

Late payment of bills

By delaying or postponing the payment of your bills when due, you could end up being penalise by the mandatory payment of additional fees. There is also a high possibility of being subjected to increased interest rates. In a situation where any of your accounts are seriously delinquent, be prepared to watch them get turned over to debt collectors, not forgetting that this could also bring down your credit score.

Delayed Investment

One of the basic rules about investing is, doing it early and for as long as possible. The advantage of this is that, someone who starts investing early is bound to get favoured when it comes to compounding interest; while someone who has been procrastinating about when to invest will realise that his/her money has  less time to grow. Let's assume Andy (30 years old) and Steve (40 years old), begin an annual investment of $4,000 in an Individual Retirement Account, with a long-term average annual rate of 5%. By the time Andy turns 60, he would have grown his money to about $265,756, while Steve would have grown his to about $132,264, by the same age of 60.

Delay in Tax filing

When the new year starts, everyone seems so relaxed, and to some, tax day seems so far away. Smart ones begin filing their taxes early enough, but procrastination is one thing that can keep you thinking there is so much time and before you know it, it's April 15th and you've still not started. At the end, you have no other option that to bear the penalties and interests that come with late filing.

Without doubt, the costs associated with procrastination can be unpleasant, having severe negative impact's on our personal finances and investments. Hence, we all have to realise that "Time is money" and rather than perpetual delay, the best option is to commit to change and follow through with a prompt action.