Credit Card Debt

Credit Card Progress and Annoyances

Posted on by Double Debt Single Woman

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When will it end?! I’m done with evil credit card companies!

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Progress:
My current credit card current balance is now $17,990.00! Yes, I’m actually happy about this.  It hasn’t been this low in years, and I’m very happy to finally turn the corner on the $20’sK to now be in the $10’sK.

I got a small year-end bonus at my job, which I was very pleased to get. I promptly applied every penny of it (what was left of it after taxes), to my credit card debt.

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Annoyances:

I got a routine monthly statement from my old credit card company a couple of days ago. This is the old credit card with a 19.9% interest rate that I paid off months ago with balance transfers to two 0% interest cards. Thank goodness I opened the email to verify my $0 balance. What I saw instead was that I now had small balance on the card for $3.99.  What?! Where did that come from?

After some investigation, I realized that I had bought a book on Amazon several months ago on this credit card, but never received it because the release date kept getting pushed out. I remember getting that book eventually, but ultimately sending it back for a refund. I got the refund. However, it did not cover return shipping, hence the $3.99 balance on my credit statement.

Ok. I open the credit card app and pay the bill, or at least I try to. Error message. The payment system will not let me make a payment for under $5.  What?!   Sigh. Fine.  I’ll pay the $5 and deal with having a credit on my account.  Nope. Error message. The system will not let me pay $5 because it is more than 7% over the $3.99 balance.  What?!  Really?!  So I guess the only way out of this is to charge something else on the card to raise the balance and then pay the whole thing off. Sneaky, sneaky.  So that is what I have done.

Grrr. Things like this reinforce my bad experiences with credit cards and particularly with this credit card company.  The silver lining, if you can call it that, is that at least this will show some activity on my account. I’ve read that not having any activity on your credit card can give companies grounds to lower your limit or close it.  I don’t want that to happen on this card – not because I will ever use it again – but because credit scores are important in the super competitive rental market out here. Even private, independent landlords require your credit report as a part of your application. This is also by far and away my oldest credit card, so getting it shut down would adversely affect my credit score.  [Edit: I’m now learning that landlords are more interested in potential tenant payment history on the report than in the credit score itself, so I may not need to be too concerned.]

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Patience, grasshopper…

No matter how much progress I make, I’m frustrated that I can’t pay it off faster.  I know that it took me years to get into this debt and it will take time to get out of it, so I need to learn patience.  I’m just ready for all this money that I spend on debt every month to instead go into investment vehicles that will result in earned interest, not paid interest.

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“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW)

Another One Bites the Dust – Die Credit Cards Die!

Posted on by Double Debt Single Woman

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Not long ago I mentioned that I was in the process of transferring my credit card debt onto two new credit cards. The two new cards have 0% interest for 15 months. The old credit card had a 19.99% interest rate that I had been dealing with for years. Back in the bad old days, every time I applied for a lower interest rate balance transfer, I was rejected. My debt to income ratio was too high. I had no options and the credit card companies knew it. I was stuck paying $350 – 400 per month in INTEREST, for years. Ahhrrghh, the stupidity!! When I think about all the ways I could have invested that money, I just get so angry at myself, at credit card companies, and the massive materialistic brainwashing that we are all victims of.

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Well, no more. The balance transfers finally went through.  The 19.99% Citibank credit card is dead and gone! About a week after the balance transfer went through that took my balance to zero, they charged me $329 for accrued interest. Thanks a lot guys. That was their final parting shot. No ‘congrats for paying your debt to us, thanks’. No.  They treat you like crap when you owe them money, and they aren’t particularly nice to you when you don’t owe them anything either. But then, what did I expect?  I paid that last interest bill on the spot and am now done with them – for good. No more paying interest!

My two new cards are split between New Card A: $2,600 and New Card B: 25,750.    Today, I just paid off Card A with two rapid-fire payments. The balance is now zero before the first official installment was due. They’ll probably try to increase my limit now. No thanks!  I am now down to one last card. I will start paying that one down with my next check.

Old Card:   $29,920 –> $0.00

New Card A:   $2,600 –> $0.00

New Card B:   $25,750  @ 0%

My student loan payments also start next month. I am on the Graduated Repayment Plan to give myself time to clear out my credit card debt before my 0% introductory rate expires.  You hear that New Card B!  Your days are numbered! You’re goin’ down!!

ILLUSTRATION: Credit-card guillotine

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“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW)

Mid-March 2013 Debt Balance Update

Posted on by Double Debt Single Woman

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In January my credit card debt was maxed out at an all-time high of $30,340 on one card. How can someone still in school (grad school) with no assets or collateral be given a limit of over $30,000? That’s a good question. Someone should call Citibank and ask them.

As of March 16, my current credit card debt now stands at $24,998.  I’ve been throwing all the money I make from selling my stuff at the balance as well. Now that I now longer have to subsidize the rent on my old apartment, I should be able to really throw everything at this debt. It feels as though the debt is being reduced so slowly. With a balance this high and a 19.99 interest rate* I’m paying over $500 per month in interest alone. As I get more principal paid down, my interest paid will be lower each month as well. More and more money will go to principal and my debt snowball will be at full speed.

*I’ve never been late or missed a payment in all these years. My rate is so high because just before the Obama Administration passed the Credit CARD Act, banking institutions everywhere jacked up interest rates preemptively.  Those of us with high balances who could not pay them off or move them elsewhere were stuck with these inflated rates. Not that missing a payment means much to me now. I’m done being a good little profit center, making minimum payments and making rich people richer.

I got my annual reminder that my Amazon Prime account was going to automatically renew. The old me would have approved it, but the ‘Get Out of Debt’ me quickly blocked it. I used to buy something from Amazon once or twice a week, but this year I’ve only bought a few things that I needed like ink and paper for my printer.

My second job starts next week. I’ll keep you updated and let you know how it goes.

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“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW)