你遇到過(guò)省小錢吃大虧的事情嗎?

　　我不是世上唯一的那個(gè)在小錢上精打細(xì)算的家伙，這世上像我這樣省小錢吃大虧的小氣鬼比比皆是。

　　Last week, Iwrote how I had once fractured my kneecap in a fall, trying to keep from spilling a few dollars' worth of dog food. Readers have since shared their tales of woe, and I now realize I got off lightly。

　　上周我在一篇文章中寫了自己的經(jīng)歷：為了不讓幾美元的狗糧灑掉，我摔了一跤，并把膝蓋摔裂了。隨后有許多讀者跟我分享了他們的悲慘經(jīng)歷，于是我發(fā)現(xiàn)原來(lái)自己還不算是最點(diǎn)兒背的。

　　粉刷匠的痛

　　One New Jersey man decided to paint the exterior of his house to save money. Itwas all going well until the ladder slipped。

　　新澤西有位仁兄為了省錢，決定自己粉刷屋子的外墻。本來(lái)一切順利，但到了最后，梯子滑倒了。

　　"When I hitthe ground, I ended up on top of the ladder and the paint splashed all over my face. So I was then treated to an ambulance ride to thelocal hospital where I found out that I had two broken bones in my shoulder, one rib fracture, and one broken finger bone, plusnumer ous scrapes and cuts. At the hospital, the doctor's first comment about the paint all over my face was 'nice color.' "

　　“我人還在梯子頂上呢，一下就拍到了地上，油漆濺了我滿頭滿臉。我馬上被救護(hù)車送到當(dāng)?shù)蒯t(yī)院，診斷結(jié)果是肩膀兩根骨頭骨折，一根肋骨碎裂，還有一個(gè)手指也斷了，全身上下還有無(wú)數(shù)刮傷蹭傷。在醫(yī)院里，醫(yī)生看著我滿臉的油漆，第一句話居然是‘顏色調(diào)得還不賴’。”

　　最貴的木柴

　　One Texas banker wrote me about his bad decision to cut his own firewood a few years ago。

　　德克薩斯一位銀行家寫信講了他幾年前的一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤決定：自己鋸木柴。

　　"We had notbeen there 15 minutes when my chainsaw kicked back and nearly lopped off my thumb. ... A trip to the emergency room and severaltrips to a hand specialist led to the most expensive firewood Ihave ever burned. Since that day, I have not complained about theprice of a delivered cord of wood. Anytime I get the idea that I could save some money by doing something myself, I look at my deformed thumb and reconsider."

　　“我們干了還不到15分鐘，我那把電鋸?fù)蝗环崔D(zhuǎn)了，差點(diǎn)把我的大拇指整個(gè)削了下來(lái)……我被送到了急診室，后來(lái)又去一位專家那里接受了好幾次治療。那絕對(duì)是我燒過(guò)的最貴的木柴了。打那以后，我就再也沒(méi)埋怨過(guò)現(xiàn)成的木柴賣得太貴了?，F(xiàn)在，每當(dāng)我想為了省點(diǎn)錢而自己動(dòng)手之前，我都會(huì)先看看我那變形了的大拇指，然后好好權(quán)衡一番。”

　　燒錢的寵物

　　One Atlanta reader wrote about taking along his seven-year-old Basset hound when he traveled to a wedding。

　　亞特蘭大一位讀者在信中說(shuō)，有次他帶著七歲大的巴塞特獵犬去參加婚禮。

　　"We could have stayed at a motel that allowed pets for $25 a night more than wepaid at the motel that did not allow pets. We decided to stay atthe less-expensive motel and take Baby into our room even though the sign in the lobby said 'No Dogs Allowed.' The motel security camera caught us taking our 60-pound hound into the room and we were billed an extra $175 for 'cleaning expenses' because of thedog. Bad decision."

　　“我們真該選擇允許寵物入住的汽車旅館，一晚只比住不許寵物入內(nèi)的旅館多花25美元。但當(dāng)時(shí)我們決定住便宜些的。雖然大堂里有個(gè)牌子寫著‘狗不得入內(nèi)’，我們還是帶著寶貝兒住了進(jìn)去。旅館的安檢攝像頭拍下了我們帶著這只體重60磅的獵狗走進(jìn)房間的場(chǎng)景，為此我們多交了175美元的‘清潔費(fèi)’。這真是個(gè)愚蠢透頂?shù)臎Q定。”

　　籃球架的噩夢(mèng)

　　Another reader decided to save himself money by buying a used basketball hoop and bracket and then constructing his own post and backboard. Only problem was the concrete hardened before he could get the post sunkto the right height. And he got paint all over himself。

　　還有一位讀者為了省錢，買了個(gè)舊的籃球筐和支架，打算自己弄個(gè)籃球架。問(wèn)題在于，他還沒(méi)來(lái)得及把支架弄到合適的高度，混凝土就凝固了，他把自己弄了一身的油漆。

　　"By the time Igot the thing mounted and some what stable, the rim was two feethigher than regulation. To put it mildly, [my] boys were crestfallen. Already I had spent more than $300--not including thecost of my ruined clothing--to get this $1.50 hoop up to where mylittle boys could barely reach it with the ball. Luckily, a friend(who unlike me was an accomplished handyman) accidentally knockedit down with his truck and offered to replace it himself with a kitfrom a sporting goods store, which cost me a little over $100,fully installed."

　　“等我把架子固定好后，發(fā)現(xiàn)籃筐的高度比正常高了兩英尺。我的幾個(gè)兒子都很沮喪。前后算下來(lái)，不算我被弄壞了的衣服，我一共花了300多美元來(lái)搞定這個(gè)價(jià)值1.5美元的籃筐，而且我那幾個(gè)年幼的孩子基本上都?jí)虿坏?。還好，我這個(gè)笨手笨腳的人有個(gè)心靈手巧的朋友，有一天他的卡車不小心把我的籃球架撞倒了，他主動(dòng)要求由他動(dòng)手來(lái)個(gè)大改造，于是乎我又花了100多美元從體育用品店里買了新的全套籃球架裝備。”

　　天價(jià)餅干

　　One reader told me what happened when, while living in Alaska, he returned toa supermarket to retrieve a box of crackers he had paid for but mistakenly left behind。

　　有一位讀者告訴了我他住在阿拉斯加時(shí)的一次經(jīng)歷：他在超市買了一盒克力架餅干卻忘了拿，于是就開車回去取。

　　"It was snowing and the roads were slippery. A Jeep Cherokee in front of mewas stopped in the middle of the road. I braked but skidded intohim, smashing the front end and totaling my car (without even scratching the Jeep). To top it off, I got a ticket for rear-endingthe Jeep. All for a box of crackers. What was I thinking?"

　　“當(dāng)時(shí)正下著雪，路上很滑。前方有輛切諾基停在路當(dāng)中。我踩了剎車，卻還是徑直滑了過(guò)去，我的車身前部嚴(yán)重受損，車子也徹底報(bào)廢了(那輛切諾基卻毫發(fā)無(wú)損)。最糟糕的是，我還收到了一張追尾的罰單。就為了一盒克力架餅干，真不知道我當(dāng)時(shí)是怎么想的。”