June 11, 2009
Here’s a new one on me. I slipped on scheduling my Chase credit card payment due to a number of excuses that just don’t matter. The due date was the 9th, and it wasn’t until a day later that I realized that I couldn’t remember paying the bill! I went back and forth with myself, checking banking and bill pay records to make sure it wasn’t just a glitch in my mental matrix.
*ugh* Nope, no record of paying it.
I quickly hopped online, made the necessary transfers to my checking account, and paid the bill, all the while, kicking myself and muttering under my breath about fools being parted from their planners.
In the follow-up phone call to the company to check the potential late fee and finance charge damage, I recalled that the balance due had never showed up in Yodlee. [Full disclosure, I’d been mucking about with my Chase account online and had signed on a number of times in the last two weeks so I knew the due date, it just got lost amidst the meetings, conference calls, and job applications.] I mentioned that I didn’t recall seeing any minimum payment amount listed online, was that just a glitch?
The customer service rep said that for some accounts, they weren’t requiring a minimum payment and that meant there’d be no late fee. [That’s really odd.] He also said that there would only be finance charges for the time elapsed between the due and payment dates, but he was sure that it’d be waived because of my activity history.
Chase was roundly berated earlier this year for charging $10 monthly service fees, and had to refund millions, but I had no idea that this other practice of not charging minimums even existed. Of course, the rep said not to count on it because he didn’t know what the rules were regulating the exceptions. That just makes me think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Has anyone else seen this before? Heard of it?
May 28, 2009
Fighting the good fight against credit card debt:
I was checking out my Etsy purchase and switched to the credit card option because I never use debit when avoidable when this screen popped up. The novelty was enough to make me stop and read it.
I was sure that it was because PP makes more on bank account funded payments than credit cards, and assumed that the sellers would assume that cost, but it looks like they charge the merchant the same fees:
Which probably does mean that, assuming PayPal is subject to the same merchant transaction fees that individual merchants pay, they’re eating the cost. No wonder they encourage the buyer to use their bank accounts! But how nice of them to remind us that interest charges aren’t desirable.
February 4, 2009
Just cancelled the rest of my business credit cards: Chase Freedom & CitiBusiness (2). They’d cancelled the Citi Premier Pass card product, so my beloved Premier Pass was changed to a CitiBusiness. Exercising my right as a consumer not to accept the inferior product, I decided to get rid of the rest of my unnecessary business cards at the same time. It’s only about 10k worth of credit lines, I’ve eliminated all debt in my name, and still have quite high (enough for me) consumer credit limits. Last time I checked, less than a month ago, none of the business cards appeared on my credit reports either.
*dusting off hands*
Another part of clean-up taken care of. Slowly getting everything in order!
Next up: scheduling life insurance medical exam, revising the will, organizing a How-To guide with account names, numbers and necessary information to all my finances to be included with the will for the executor. Or whoever. (And a medical instruction letter in case of incapicitation. Is it strange that I’m considering appointing only friends to these responsibilities, not family? I just don’t trust family to follow my wishes.)
January 13, 2009
The Boston Globe reports that many people, possibly millions, have been seeing unidentified 25-cent charges on their credit card statements.
The charge shows up on statements as coming from “Adele Services” in Melville, N.Y. There is no business by that name listed in Melville, or registered to any business anywhere in New York, for that matter.
Two theories of what is going on have advanced on message boards and among consumer advocates: Someone is trying to find out whether an illegally obtained credit card number will work before making a bigger charge, or they’re trying to rip off tiny amounts from tons of people.
The latter theory has more credibility at the moment. The Better Business Bureau in Louisville reports that, at least so far, those who have been hit with the small charge have yet to get slammed with a bigger charge. The bureau speculates that the number of possible victims could be in the millions.
The article cautions consumers not to just let the charge slide “because that’s what the thieves want.”
Now why on earth would someone allow a false charge to pass on their account? You don’t know if it’s just a tester charge and a prelude to a major shopping spree on your credit card! Feh, I don’t care if it’s a dime they’re charging on my credit card. If I didn’t authorize it, I’m not paying that and the credit card company would be put on notice immediately. No messin’ around with my money!
November 5, 2008
For weeks I’ve been reading about the tightening credit market in response to the crises that abounded, and I wondered how long it would be before we experienced it in our daily finances.
Lackluster loans, both auto and mortgages, isn’t a problem as the idea of taking on debt in this economy is right out. I do, however, have fairly extensive credit card lines and decided to start trimming them back just as Citi decided the same. One of my older cards was canceled outright by Citi for inactivity, and I moved another hefty credit line to an active account and canceled a second card.
Yesterday’s mail brought a notice that Citi Premier Pass cards are being discontinued and changed to CitiBusiness cards. The draw of the Premier Pass was the Thank You flight points which effectively doubled my point earning on regular purchases, so I have until January 19th to earn as many spending points as I have flight points, freeing them up, and canceling that card since the CitiBusiness doesn’t offer rewards I’m interested in.
I may voluntarily trim back a couple more cards, perhaps another Citi and another Chase card, just to clean up the credit card landscape further. I don’t depend on them, anyway, except for rewards and cash flow purposes: I spend much less using credit cards than cash and it’s a great tracking tool.
I’ll keep my Citi Driver’s Edge because I have about $130 in rewards and I’m earning Drive Miles as well, so that supplements my car maintenance account. The AmEx Hilton is used for cell phone bills and dining out for hotel points; someday I’ll have enough points to go on vacation! The Chase Cash Plus card is excellent for generating 5 points per dollar spent on gas, groceries, and drugstores, while the Citi Diamond Preferred is still giving me 2 points per dollar on all other purchases. In all, four cards cover any and all spending. Extra cards are just on rotation for negotiating leverage when I want better rewards – I used to let them know that I was looking to cancel for better rewards and bonus points. Nowaways, retention may not be as diligent or generous, though.
Have you begun to experience any sort of credit limitations? Does it bother you at all?
May 13, 2008
There’s got to be a flaw in my planning somewhere here. There’s money in the bank, so why do I feel broke? Because it’s all spoken for? Because I’m shifting money from one account to another to cover the rent check? Probably. I worry that I’ve been reckless and irresponsible somehow, and that’s why I still have to pull together funds, and why I feel so danged broke. Is this my rainy-day version of Bag Lady Syndrome?
I have a certain amount of money that I’m allowed in my expense account per paycheck, and then everything left over goes to rent. I must be sorely underbudgeted in the rent department, because I’m coming up short part way through the month, and the expense account has to make up the difference.
This is me freaking out a little. Again, money is in the bank, but it’s all for real emergencies or upcoming expenses. I’ve got nothing freed up for the here and now. But my planning couldn’t have been that far off. It’s supposed to be really quite close to my actual expenditures, so why the difficulty in pulling it all together?
Hmmm ….. ok, here’re the problems: The bills for the multiple deductibles are all coming due at the same time. The truck still hasn’t been sold. This is the first time I’ve got a surplus set aside for auto insurance, so I’m still feeling the effects of juryrigging that into the system, as the last payment is on the same credit card. And PaDucky was in a tight spot last month and I had to lend him a substantial amount, only 60% of which he’s paid back in time for me to make up the rent.
So, $2120 of the $2227 credit card bill I’m about to pay is on actual bills. Honest-to-goodness, had to pay ’em, BILLS. Another $50 is for medical stuff; I’ll be reimbursed from my FSA. That means I spent $50 on myself. Ten to eat out, seven to treat a friend to Pinkberry, and $33 on an outfit I’m still feeling guilty about and haven’t admitted to buying until now. *oooops!*
*deep breath* So I was only $33 irresponsible. There’s still a juggle, and I’m still going to be struggling to make the ends meet because I’m NOT allowed to delve into other funds for expenses, but at least it wasn’t because I was careless. Silver lining?
March 1, 2008
I meant to go entirely with Option 2 because the water bill was a whopping $84 this month. Unfortunately, I had to run some errands today, and ended up compromising with mostly #2, with a smidgen of #3.
I’ve been long overdue in replacing my car’s windshield wiper inserts, and with iffy weather headed our way yet again, I simply had to prioritize them today. The terms on my Citi Driver’s Edge Options card states that the rebates are good for “repairs, service, and maintenance” but I wasn’t sure if replacement windshield wiper inserts qualified. Since I wanted to be sure NOT to pay anything out of pocket, they went on the Premier Pass. Luckily, the dealership had them for a good price: $7.71 for both driver and passenger sides! And, the Parts guy was nice enough to offer to replace them for me on the spot. I planned to do it myself, but I’m not turning down free service. I’m wondering if I should get another set to have on hand when these need to be replaced: the price is good now and I know that when I need new wipers again, I’m going to wait way too long to purchase a new set.
Next, I got sucked into the quicksand of Target exchanging a couple items, and found a purple tank top on sale for $7.99 to replace the one I haven’t let go of, but doesn’t fit well and can’t be worn to work. Total: $8.64.
That left 63.65 for a utility bill, which I’ve paid in full. I’ll concede that the tank top wasn’t critical, and I might be convinced to return it since I did just buy a new dress for myself almost two weeks ago.
It’s amazing how quickly $100 runs through my fingers. *tsk* I’d better stay inside the rest of the week, unless I take myself to see a movie with my prepaid movie tickets.
