The Typo That Cost Me $500 — And Why I Double-Check Everything Now
A freelance invoice decimal point disaster, and the simple review habit that prevents it from happening again.
I sent an invoice for two thousand five hundred dollars. At least, that is what I meant to send. What I actually sent was an invoice for twenty-five dollars. I had typed the decimal in the wrong place. The client paid immediately — twenty-five dollars. I had to send an awkward email explaining that no, my rate had not dropped by 99 percent, and they still owed me the rest.
It was mortifying. It also could have been prevented by taking thirty seconds to review my writing before hitting send.
What I Do Now
Before sending anything important — invoices, proposals, client emails — I paste the text into a spell checker. Not just for spelling. I read it aloud. Hearing the words catches awkward phrasing that my eyes skip over. Between the spell check and the read-aloud, I catch about 90 percent of mistakes before they reach the client. I have sent hundreds of invoices since the twenty-five dollar incident. Zero typos. Zero awkward corrections.