hate mail
So when I got home tonight, a letter from one of the companies that has issued me one of my credit cards. Let me let you in on my credit situation: I have four credit cards.
The first is my first card from college, that I got because I wanted a free candy bar. I’ve had it for over ten years now, and the only reason I keep it is for the longevity of my credit history. (Because I hate the interest rate, and because they’re always sending me “convenience checks” that are inconveniently jamming up my PO Box. They never reduced my interest rate when I asked. They only increased my spending limit once. I pretty much hate them.) It has no balance and is in good standing. I use it once or twice a year to keep it active.
The second was offered to me when I opened a checking account while I was still in college. I’ve also had it for over ten years, and it has no balance. I only use this card for very large purchases. It has a rewards program, so I can get stuff by using it – last year, I used my rewards to help pay for my new TV. I usually don’t use the card, but if a high-dollar purchase comes up, I use the card to get the reward points and then I pay it right back. It has a relatively high balance, so it’s great for stuff like contractors or furniture. I had a line of credit with this company which helped me to consolidate my debt. I paid it off, and in the past year, they cancelled it. That kinda pissed me off, but I was kinda expecting it too. Either way, this is my highest balance card with my lowest interest rate, and I’m glad to have it. It has no balance and is in good standing.
The third card is my AMEX, which I’ve had for about ten years. It’s a classic green AMEX card with financial rewards. It’s my only card with an annual fee, but I love this card! When I was struggling through college and grad school, it helped me avoid using my other cards, avoid accruing a balance since it had to be paid off at the end of each month, and it gave me a little advance on my paychecks when I needed it. When I got this card, I was right at the point in my financial development when I learned how NOT to run up a bill. If I’m using a credit card nowadays, it’s usually this one. It’s in good standing, and I clear the revolving balance every month.
I just got the fourth card, a department store charge card, in the last year. Department store charge cards are pretty evil and not for the faint of heart. I have it because I like the store and I like the discounts I can get by using the card. I cleaned up on Christmas shopping because of this card, and as long as I don’t carry a balance, the ridiculously devious interest rate, typical for cards like these, won’t affect me. It doesn’t have a high balance, but I like the discounts. Again – no balance, good standing.
Well, the letter I received today was about the second card. It says in part,
Dear Sistah Ant:
I am writing to inform you that the Financial Rewards credit card program will be ending… [and] will be replaced with the new Cash Rewards Visa Signature credit card – one of our premier cash rewards programs… Your APR will not change… Your unredeemed rewards will be transferred to your new account… [and the card] comes with exceptional features and benefits. …You will receive credit for your continuous account relationship going back to the old card. Blah, blah, blah,
Sincerely,
Fake Signature
Name that means nothing to me
Stupid Bank
I know this doesn’t sound like a bummer, but check out what’s in the fine print on the back of the letter – “As a result of this upgrade, your account will have a revolving line, rather than a preset spending limit. This does not mean that all transactions will be approved. We will consider transactions for approval on an individual basis, including transactions in excess of the revolving line. If we have previously permitted transactions in excess of your revolving line, it does not mean that we will permit another transaction in excess of your revolving line. Your revolving line, which may also be referred to as a credit limit, will be disclosed to you when you receive your card and, generally, on each monthly statement. We may change your revolving line from time to time.” Some upgrade.
It’s hate mail, I tell you! My predictably high credit limit – *poof*. The predictability of knowing what I can spend – *poof*. Going up to the counter knowing that my card will be approved – *poof*. What I like about this card, opposed to my AMEX, is that I KNOW how much I’m approved for. I don’t have to call before I spend to see whether or not I’m going to be embarrassed at the register. The high balance on this card makes me look as awesome as I am on my credit reports. Now the only cards I have that have regular credit limits are the first card and the department store card, and their credit limits combined don’t add up to my current Visa limit. Do you know what this could do to my credit score, less than a year after my line of credit has been cancelled (by this same stupid bank)? My ratio of debt to available credit will still be “zero” to “combined credit limit,” but that combined credit limit is shrinking, and I didn’t do anything to deserve it.
I wouldn’t care if I wasn’t trying to buy a bigger house in the next several years. But I am. It’s hate mail, I tell you. They hate me because they don’t get interest from me anymore. They can’t hold a big balance over my head anymore, ’cause I paid it off. I probably take more money from them with my rewards that I earn them in merchant fees. So they send me this stupid letter, which is all happy and stuff (“upgrade” my foot!) when they’re really sticking it to me. I hate them now. That is all.
Broke.
You know why I’m broke? Bad planning and overuse of my AMEX. If I would think farther ahead, I would realize that racking up $500 of charges that have to be paid off right before graduation season is a bad, bad thing for my cash flow. You’d think I’d have gotten better at planning by now…
uneasy
Did you ever get the feeling that it has been too long since you looked at your bank balance? I’ve been doing the no-checkbook-register thing for a few months now, and it’s really hard. I went on a short trip recently and though we had a budget, I was often thinking about whether or not we were overspending. I’m not sure if I can keep this up without the detailed record keeping I ‘m used to…
Let’s try this
How about I try blogging on the go with my phone? This may make it easier to come back…
pleasant surprise
I updated my net worth (with a few minor details yet-to-be-updated, like the big reduction in my student loan amount and the actual amount of my stocks’ value) and lo and behold, there was a $6,000 net worth increase sitting there staring me in the face! Wow. Praise God!
This progress, despite my newest material acquisitions – clothes, a smart phone, a data plan, weekly visits with a personal fitness trainer – is nothing short of amazing.
Here’s my latest net worth explanation:
“The amount shown in my net worth is incorrect because I’m having technical difficulties with one of my student loan accounts and with my ShareBuilder account, so I can’t see the actual balances. Until I can get these numbers, the amounts shown here are incorrect.
I used my tax refund to pay down some student loan debt. I made my last medical bills payment in April. Yay!!! That is why my “other debts” category has gone down. Another reason it’s declined is because I’m paying back the $7,500 tax credit from 2008 through payroll deductions, since 2010 is the first tax year in which Uncle Sam will start getting his money back from the homeowners who took the 2008 home buyers’ tax credit (i.e. “loan”) – which, in my case, is sitting in a bank account collecting an insulting amount of interest (when are the rates going to go back up?!?!?) and augmenting our emergency savings.
Mister Ant and I have been saving for our wedding expenses and for start-up costs for a family (no, we’re not trying yet!).
The credit cards get cleared by the end of each month, and I’m pretty much using them for rewards points. My main priority is to use the payment amounts I no longer have to pay to the medical bills to pay down my smaller student loan. I’m really excited about seeing that final 0.00 balance when I log in one day! I hate this loan with a passion.
I haven’t been saving much in my IRA, because so much of my money is going towards wedding/household savings and debt reduction. Apparently I lack the drive/discipline to contribute regularly to the fund, but at least I am saving something somewhere, and next month after open enrollment, I’ll start contributing to the 401K at work, since I become eligible this month. I looked into converting the IRA to a Roth, but it’s really not worth the initial tax costs to me right now.
Someone dinged my car, but not so significantly that it would have been worth paying my $1000 deductible, so I took some value ($500) off of the car, since the body is no longer in “excellent” condition.”
But, perhaps most importantly of all – my net worth has broken the -20,000 mark and I feel like I’m oh-so-close to going positive! I was so excited to see that, and then my jaw dropped when I saw that I’m 77% closer to a positive net worth than I was when I started this journey three-and-a-half years ago back in 2006. Oh joy! Negative 87K seems so far away now. I mean, what’s another 16K? I’ve already improved by about 70. This is so awesome!
