<prompt> Human: So Ive been traveling for like 4 out of the last three weeks and I didnt budget properly for Christmas and when my credit card came due instead of automatically paying the balance I had to pay a smaller amount because the cash just wasnt available. I dont ever pay consumer interest; but I now have to admit to paying this amount. It sucks and I hate it. It was my failure to budget properly that caused it and now I will accept the PF lashings. Im a CPA and financially savvy so I guess it can happen to anyone. sucks.  <response>: A friend of a friend flies all the time. As in, at least 50 round-trips a year. He has the whole process down to a science, but of course you cant perfectly predict weather and traffic. His advice once was that if youre not missing a plane every now and then, youre wasting too much time sitting around airports. That is, as much as it screws up that one trip where you miss your flight, thats better than a subtle drain on your time by showing up for every other trip an hour early just in case.Enjoying your travel without stressing over little stuff is probably worth the occasional 24 mistake. If you stressed out about it while you were traveling and still screwed it up, well, thats a shame.And while were confessing, I lie all the time when people ask about credit card stuff by saying I never carry a balance. Once, due to an oversight, I paid 11 cents in interest. I was devastated for a week because I lost my perfect record, but I got over it. 