2.) An elderly woman wearing pants with ‘Naughty’ crocheted across her hind quarters.

While I can’t stop an octogenarian shopping at my local Target store from reliving her youth inappropriately, I can stop car payments. How?

Our tax refund this year is just shy of $6,000.

We will wipe out 60% of our car debt. SIXTY PERCENT!!

YES!!

Begin with an end in mind.

OK, so here’s the sad part, I don’t remember how exactly they applied that statement to management. BUT, that statement is HUGE for me personally.

Often times, I pick a task with no end. I want to get more fit or I want to eat a healthy diet or I want to live as a penny pincher and on and on and on. Here’s the problem: Unending goals like these will lead to burnout.

Head smackingly obvious right? Then why do I keep making these stupid never-ending goals?

I think that’s what I appreciated about the Dave Ramsey program and why it has worked for me. I was convinced to pay off one debt at a time. It’s a goal with an end followed by another goal with an end. I also think that’s why training for a marathon and a triathlon has kept me more motivated than working out without an end in mind. If I want to quit after I finish I can, but I have a feeling I’ll be signing up for another one as soon as I cross the finish line.

Rather than say, ‘I want to be debt free forever’, say ‘I want to pay off my car by next summer’.

Begin with an end in mind.

What is your end?

Dave Ramsey suggests paying the extra amount on your lowest debt (which would be the student loan) but the minimum payment on our truck is more 4 times higher than the student loan. Plus, the interest rate on the truck is twice as much.

Another good reason to pay more on the truck is to quickly rid ourselves of the hefty payment. In the event of job loss, a student loan can be deferred due to financial hardship – auto loans are not nearly as forgiving.

We’re hoping to have the truck paid off in 10 months or less.

Here we go!

Total Starting Debt: $38,495.86
Total Paid: $16,727.33
Total Remaining: $21,768.53

Breakdown of Remaining Debt –
Truck: $11,934.57
Student Loan: $9,833.96

We’re nearly halfway there. I got an updated payoff date according to our Debt Snowball Calculator on DaveRamsey.com…

December 2010.

We shaved off 4 months so far. Can I get a Woo Hoo?

We don’t see each other often. Perhaps that’s why our marriage is so great. We don’t have time to fight – heck we’re just so darn excited to see one another we don’t really… um… talk much.

He took a rare three nights off last week and we went running and cycling together every day. We made dinner. We walked the dogs. We watched movies. We remembered what it was like to be married.

I couldn’t help but think about how wonderful it was to have him around – to see him relax, even for just a night or two. He must have been thinking the same thing. He said, ‘I want to work less and live my life more.’ He has decided to work 6 days per week and 2 nights per week – and yes, that’s a cut-back (he was working 6 days and 6 nights).

I can’t agree with him more. As he toils to pay our debt, I can’t help but wonder if our self-inflicted punishment of hard labor is worse than the crime of spending. I wonder if one day, we’ll look back and regret the time we missed when our life was just us. We can cover our bills plus some without the extra work so we’ve decided to slow down.

So… we will pay things off more slowly BUT I have my husband back – and I’ve missed him dearly.

I am very disappointed.

This event led to the following changes:

1. More involvement by both of us. Often in relationships, one person manages the finances. When things don’t go well and money is too tight, this person feels the stress, the pressure, and the responsibility for the mess. We have both decided to dedicate and hour each week to review each transaction. Now we have more checks and balances on each others spending – otherwise, we’ll have another bad month.

2. We are refocusing our goals and setting rewards. Our next payoff is still a ways away and we’re getting frustrated and bored. We decided to give ourselves something to look forward to after our next payoff. It’s nothing huge, maybe a dinner out or a trip to the theater, but rewards between payoffs has become something we need to stay motivated.

3. Reconsidering our numbers. We went back to make sure our numbers were working for our ever changing budget. We’ve been underspending on gas and overspending on miscellaneous necessities (car repairs, house repairs, etc.). We decided to adjust our numbers and perhaps pay a little less on our credit card so we can stop panicking when things aren’t balancing. Leaving the numbers the same would be great, but it’s obviously not working and it’s causing frustration.

4. We have decided to spread our focus. It’s easy to let finances consume our thoughts and lives. Rather than let this stress grow, we decided to let ourselves enjoy other things in life. Running, swimming, yoga, gardening groups, and organizing the garage help to keep our mind free of the finance clutter in our brains.

When there are long distances between payoffs, it’s important to work at what is frustrating you. You can’t solve everything, and it will be painful, but taking steps to at least reduce stress will help to prevent burnout. I’d rather take things a bit more slowly than give up entirely.

What have you done to motivate yourself and prevent burnout?

No, I am not going to reveal my housing costs. Asking a San Diegan to reveal her mortgage payment is like asking a New York housewife to reveal her age. The only thing likely to happen is a giant string of lies.

I’m also not going to reveal our charitable giving amounts. What we decide to give is a very personal decision and it’s not an amount I’m willing to change just to pay more on bills.

Savings: $50
Electricity/Gas: $105
Cell Phones: $100
Cable/Internet/Phone: $100
Grocery: $300
Gas: $260
Laundry: $10
Toiletries: $11
Clothing/House Repairs/Animal Care/Spending Money: $200
Water: $70
Trash: $18

All remaining money is used to pay our mortgage, our credit card, our student loans, and my husband’s truck.

So. Am I normal by the numbers? What does your budget look like?

But I guess that’s part of a journey.  It can’t be all fun right?

I worked a tough job for a ‘big box store’ to pay the bills while applying for any decent job available. I finally landed a great job in December. 

I’ve struggled with unexpected expenses – like a monthly $150 property tax hike and a 1% sales tax hike…

I’ve made lifestyle changes – the biggest one is my use of public transportation…

I’ve struggled with monotony…

And I paid off my car.

Here is where I am on my debt journey.  Somehow, we’ve squeezed $10,000 toward our debt – $30,000 to go.  Sure I’d like it to be more, but $10,000 isn’t a bad number.

I can’t wait to finish this journey and finally become…

DEBT FREE!!

We dug around our garage for a few hours and it taught me three very important things:

1) I’m a pack rat.

In this day and age, no one… and I mean NO ONE… should still have a Tae Bo video or a Chia Pet.

2) If I don’t see it, I don’t care if it’s sold.

I can’t remember what is out there. If my husband sells it before I see it… it’s fair game.

3) The things I thought were so important to me… aren’t.

There are very few things I use on a daily basis. I don’t need the rest. It’s time to simplify.

What are you selling?

While our relationship has been great and I have appreciated your monthly letters of good tidings, I’m afraid I have to end things. You see, I recently met with my tax man and he told me we’re getting back a small chunk of cash which means… all the money I’ve been saving can finally be used to rid myself of you.

I know you have lots of friends like me and you probably won’t miss me but I’m sure you’ll miss the nearly two years of interest I would still owe you if we continued to be friends.

Please don’t take this personally, your service has been exceptional. We’ve actually got along quite well the past few years but it’s not you… it’s me.

I wish you the best in your future endeavors… none of which will involve me.

All my love, but none of my cash,

Rebekah

This is the first guest post I’ve written for Tricia. So I spent a few days thinking about a title that would get your attention.

That’s when I came up with “B.A.D. Ways to Reduce Debt.”

Of course, B.A.D. stands for Blogging Away Debt.

To write this post, I went back through a number of Tricia’s blog posts to see what strategies she has personally used to reduce her debt during the last two years. Here are the three debt reduction strategies I came up with, along with how I’m using those same strategies.

Strategy #1: Create accountability.

When Tricia began her debt reduction journey, she started this blog to create accountability. I took a similar approach when I started writing Debt Reduction Formula. I did it, in part, for accountability.

But a blog is a lot of work, especially if you want to attract regular readers. What’s a busy person to do?

At first, I simply created a spreadsheet that listed all of my debts, their interest rates, and minimum payments. This created personal accountability because I had to acknowledge my debt problem and see whether it was getting better or worse each month.

I continue to update that spreadsheet every month to see how much progress I’m making.

Even personal accountability like this goes a long way toward keeping yourself motivated. (And, trust me, you WILL need something to keep you motivated as you pay down your debt.)

Strategy #2: Minimize finance charges.

Another debt reduction strategy Tricia has used is minimizing her finance charges by looking for the lowest interest rates possible.

In one post, Tricia shares that she called around to credit card companies to get rate reductions, paid off as much debt as she could to improve her credit score, acted on balance transfer offers when she received them, and even took advantage of a Prosper loan at one point.

We’ve all heard about minimum payments. But, if you’re like me, you may not have thought in terms of minimum finance charges. (I think I finally stumbled upon this concept a couple months ago.)

Let’s say you have monthly minimum payments of $800. If you look at how much interest you’re paying, you may discover that $600 of the total monthly minimum is going to interest!

By reducing finance charges, you free up more money to pay down principal, which accelerates your debt reduction.

Like Tricia, I’ve gotten reduced interest rates on a few credit cards. And I, too, recently got a Prosper loan to consolidate two loan balances. By doing this, I literally slashed my interest rate in half. (I’m now paying 11% instead of 22%.)

Strategy #3: Throw extra money at debt.

Perhaps this seems like a no-brainer.

But think about the “economic stimulus check” most folks will get this May/June. No doubt, some people will use it to pay off debt. But many people will spend it on a new widget or doodad.

A close friend and I were talking, and we speculated the number one purchase this economic stimulus money will be used for is… a new flat-screen TV.

Not debt reduction.

Tricia writes that 100% of their 2005 tax return was used to reduce debt in 2006. And while it’s easy to admire that kind of commitment, it’s hard to put it into practice.

Currently, I’m also using extra money to pay down debt. Where does it come from?

Since I’m self-employed, I have periods of time when I’m cash-rich and other when I’m cash-poor. So whenever I get paid a project fee, I take whatever portion I can to pay down debt.

I’m actively pursuing different ways to grow my business so I’ll have more cash to throw at my debt. Not to mention, I recently received an unexpected inheritance, which I’m using to reduce debt as well.

So tell me: what B.A.D. ways to reduce debt have you personally used? Leave a comment below.

Thanks Ryan for the guest post!

We are also experiencing some bitter cold weather. The blizzard conditions outside even lead to the closure of a part of the main highway. That doesn’t happen very often. So, we ended up getting sick on a good weekend to stay put in the house.

Anways, here are some links that I found interesting this week:

Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has a couple copies of TaxCut Online to give away.

MyMoneyBlog gives some info on how you can get paid to interview for jobs. Pretty interesting!

Lastly, NCN shares how he has been a debt-free blogger for two years. One day, I hope to join the ranks of being a debt-free blogger

“I too owed quite a bit of money on not one but two credit cards, about $22,000 to be exact. I noticed that even if I paid the minimum every month on each credit card I never saw any major debt eliminating results. So what I did for a time, knowing that I was a committed payer to the credit card companies was to call the credit card company from time to time and always was able to negotiate a reduction in the interest owed on the amounts. At least, the credit card companies were willing to work with me. I optioned to increase the amount of money to pay out at the billing period. In other words, I began to pay more than the minimum for a couple of months.

Mind you my method was not based on any scientific fact just based on the notion of what if. By the way, all this time that I was making all of these payments the credit cards were in the possession of the local garbage dump. The minute I got a credit card. I mutilated it beyond recognition. One more thing that I forgot to mention earlier I also authorized the bank to directly deposit the required amount for payment to the credit cards thus avoiding any late fees or penalties incurred with late payments. The next thing that I did was to look at the credit card interest rates and decided to consolidate the credit cards into one. Now why didn’t I do that in the first place you may have asked. One financial immaturity and two not really knowing that most of the money that I had forwarded to the credit card companies was going mostly towards those darn high interests.

I just happened to start a new job that paid slightly more than I had been making. But the best thing of all the new company had a credit union. Well now, here is where I got savvy. The first thing that I did was to get a part-time job that I worked at one day a week. The next thing that I did after I got the part time job was to have the money from the part time job direct deposited into the credit union. I also gave myself specific instructions not to touch the credit union money for any reason for a period of about two years. By the time I had been employed at that company with access to a credit union I had whittled the credit card amount to about $10,000. This was, of course, without any outside intervention other than a lot of saving and self-control.

Gee! One fine day I get this notice in the mail telling me that the credit union offered a credit card with zero percent interest for a period of six months. I had been saving money into the credit union account for almost two years. Oh! by the way another fine little detail that I forgot to add, I had also asked that a small part of my regular 40 hour work week pay-check go to the credit union as well, about $200 a month to be exact.

So now to put the simple math equation in motion. The part time job paid me a little over $200 a month and I had asked for my employer to put aside $200 a month from my regular job. All totaled to about $400 per month on the side untouched. By the time I transferred the credit card amount to the no interest bearing account I owed about $8,000. But I had an monetary ammunition garrison of about $9800.

Now instead of paying all in one lump sum I felt that it would be best if I established some sort of good standing with the credit union and credit card company. And of course I did not want to pay all of the money out and not any left for an emergency. When the first credit card statement came from the credit union it asked for $22. I transferred $1,000 & some months I gave $500 others I gave $750. With in the 6 months offered interest free I had paid all that I owed. At the current moment I owe again about $800 but now I still sufficient assets to pay what I owe in one shot. I have also limited my credit card spending to to no more than $1000.”

Congrats are in order to this reader who has managed to really pay off some debt. The method used isn’t one that I’ve ever read in a book, but it worked (if you remember, I’m a believer in taking things from here and there and making a plan that works for you). This reader had a plan and self-control and made the debt go away.

Today I’m highlighting a post I did about calling your credit cards to reduce your interest rate. I actually wrote down how that call went with dialogue from me and the credit card customer service rep. Needless to say, that one didn’t go well. Looking at how I did it, I think I may have been a tad too aggressive and I probably should have asked to speak with a supervisor. When you call and talk to customer service, try to be pleasant and respectful. I think my call crossed the line a little bit. Thinking back to my days of working at a grocery store, I always was willing to go out of my way to help those who were nice to me.

Even though I rarely had success with trying to call to reduce my interest rates, it doesn’t hurt to try. While you are at it, you can also try to reverse late fees. A call will likely only take 5 or 10 minutes depending on how long you are on hold, and if the call is successful than it was some time well spent.

There are the sources of motivation that started me on this journey…

Back in April of last year, I sat down and wrote a list of 10 things that keep me motivated to become debt-free. I still do all of those, but as the days are turning into years I am finding that I zero in on certain ones.

Like the sources of motivation that are always there…

My son. My husband. My mom and dad.

Those four people are more than my family, they are the reason that I can do things when I set my mind to them. They are my inspiration for so many things in my life. Whether it’s trying to be a good person or paying off our debt – they are right there with me with unconditional love. They make me want to succeed.

Then there are the stories of others…

Whether it’s stories from other bloggers who are now debt-free or those who are working towards it. I look to their stories for inspiration.

Then there are quotes…

I love quotes and one of my favorites is this one here. It’s amazing what the written word can inspire you to do.

Then there are times where I look everywhere for some motivation…

I look at things differently now. Every movie or show I watch or story I read I look for inspiration. Like how a horse is inspiring me to reduce our debt or how a chipmunk is being frugal.

Last, but definitely not least, I have this blog…

This blog has played a major role in our debt reduction. Writing about our finanical situation daily keeps me focused and the comments of others help to keep me motivated. I do want to see the day I can come on here and write in huge bold all cap letters that I am credit card debt-free. I want to go outside and shout it. I want to hug a stranger on the street and tell them I am credit card debt-free. Okay, maybe I won’t hug a stranger, but it will be a very happy day.

Now that I’ve shared where I get my motivation…what about you? Would you like to share?

First things first, we calculated the total damage. This is a sobering step, but once you finish it you have a better idea of where you stand. We listed all of our debts with columns for creditor, balance due, interest rate and minimum monthly payment. This can be done on the computer or with pencil and paper.

I also took a look at how much we were paying for finance charges. When I first started this blog, we were paying over $400/month in finance charges. That was $400 a month that we could have for other things in life if we didn’t have our credit cards. I used that as motivation.

Once you have all of your debts listed, there are two popular ways to start paying them off.

1.) List your debts from the highest interest rate to the lowest interest rate. Pay the minimum payment for all debts except for the one with the highest interest rate. That debt you pay as much as you can towards. Once that debt with the highest interest rate is paid off, you tackle the next debt in the list.

2.) List your debts from the smallest to the largest balance. Pay the minimum payment for all debts except for the one with the smallest balance. Pay as much as you can to that debt. Once that debt with the lowest balance is paid off, you takle the next debt in the list.

If you choose to go with #1, you will end up paying less interest in the long run because you are getting rid of the balances with the higher rates first. But sometimes the balance with the highest interest may be your largest balance. It may seem like its taking forever to get it paid off.

That’s the appeal of #2. By paying off the smaller balances first, you are seeing progress quickly by paying off entire balances. That can be a big boost to your self-esteem with your debt reduction plan.

For us, we are doing a combination of the two. For the most part, we have been tackling the debt with the highest rates but we have paid off other debts first. I think the main thing is to decide on a plan that works for you and you stick with it. Committment to becoming debt-free is a big factor. Without that, both of the plans above will not work.

I’ll talk about where my motivation comes from in a later post. I started making a list, and I am amazed where all I am pulling inspiration/motivation from.

So, how did we go from over $37,614 in credit card debt to $28,623 in less than 6 months on an income of $45,000/year?

1.) Number one thing – change the attitude! Things didn’t start happening for us until we started thinking positive and started believing that we could make this happen. A positive attitude leads to positive results. Whenever I start feeling blue, I try to remember to repeat that phrase to myself.

2.) We removed all credit cards out of our wallets and put them somewhere safe in our home but also a spot where they are not easy to get to. Some suggestions I’ve heard of are to freeze them inside a water-filled container or lock them in a safe.

3.) We track where our money is going. I use Quicken to track everything and we rarely use cash. Not having cash makes it easier to track things. (If you don’t have Quicken, you can do this using a pencil and paper.)

4.) We found places to agressively cut spending. One of the easier expenses for us to cut has been in household spending. I no longer purchase things to decorate or furnish the home. We are doing fine with what we have and I have learned that we do not need more. One of the hardest is groceries and dining. I’m still working on that one. Overall, we are taking drastic measures to spend as little as possible so more money can go towards debt.

5.) We are working on increasing our income. I have been furthering my education with some classes to earn more at work and my husband is working hard to get his business off the ground. We are trying to increase our worth, myself as an employee and my husband as a self-employed individual (hopefully soon )

6.) We use any extra money towards debt. For our tax return this year, it all went towards debt. The income that I will make from my blog will go towards debt. Basically, if it’s not from a paycheck it immediately goes towards debt. I’m also always on the lookout for ways I can make a few dollars here and there (surveys, selling things, etc.).

7.) We worked to reduce the interest rates on our credit cards. This one wasn’t that easy when we started out paying off our debt. Some people can call their credit cards and get their rates lowered. I wasn’t one of them until I started knocking down the balance on the credit card. Then they listened. For more on this one, visit my post here. We also used balance transfers to shift debt around at lower rates and even tried prosper.com to refinance some of our debt.

8.) We figured out our gameplan. We listed our debts and figured out which ones were were going to pay down first. All extra money was shifted towards that debt. There are many different methods one can use (like pay the lowest balance first or even the highest interest rate balance) but remember you have to do what is right for you! We actually are paying attention to a few things with our plan: our credit ratings (trying to keep debt equal between my husband’s accounts and my accounts) and trying to not have too many balance transfers going at the same time due to the risk (like how one minor late payment can skyrocket the interest rate).

9.) We calculated a goal date. I was a little hesitant to do this one, because I didn’t want to set a date and then not make it. But I am finding that the date is keeping me motivated. May 2009 here we come!!

10.) We are not gonna give up!! There will be times we slip. We sure did end up spending a lot for dining last month and of course I feel bad about it. But it sometimes slip-ups happen to the best of us. Just pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and keep on heading towards your goal.

That’s everything I can think of at the moment. But I’m still learning – there is probably more to come

A few things that I will note is that I started my blog on Blogger.com. This is a free service that is owned by Google. The only problem with using a free site is that there is often times you cannot get into to your blog and you are limited with the things you can do.

I did recently move my blog to my own domain name and obtained very reasonable hosting. Depending on what company you use and the offers available, you can obtain hosting from $4.00/month to $12.00/month. The company I host with actually has an easy installation available for one of the most popular blogging platforms, Wordpress. Wordpress also has free hosting for blogs.

I believe that starting this blog was the best thing for me to do. I feel accountable because my words are out on the internet for anyone to read. When I have the urge to purchase something, I now think about my blog and my readers. Do I want to let them down?

If you decide to start a blog to help you reduce your debt, please let me know. Support is so important when making a big change in your life. In addition to this blog, I also am a member of the No Credit Needed Network. Even if you don’t have a blog, you can sign up over there and NCN will make a nice chart for you showing your starting debt and your progress. He’s also a great motivator and if he sees you straying from the path to become debt-free, he will send you an email showing his concern.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. I will do my best to answer, or provide links to information that will help you.

When I do things I like to do it BIG. My husband is the same way. Meaning, when I make a payment to my credit cards, I like to pay a huge chunk at once. Why is that bad? Because I am actually saving money in my checking account in order to make a BIG payment. So I pay one $600 payment monthly but I could be paying $300 every two weeks.

One benefit of paying every two weeks is that on a yearly basis I would make more total payments!

Paying $300 times 26 weeks = $7,800
Paying $600 times 12 months = $7,200

That’s a whole extra monthly payment that I would be making if I paid my card every two weeks.

I’ve somewhat started doing things that way last month. I sent a few hundred to one of my credit cards one week, then a few hundred a few weeks later. I wouldn’t say that I am on 2-week schedule just yet but I am working on it. When you are used to paying things a certain way (and making sure there is enough money in the bank to do so), it can be hard to change.

But I am working on it

They reduced the interest rate from 16.99% to 13.99% and my account was technically upgraded to a “new” card to get the new interest rate. It’s not a huge decrease – but it’s something and I won’t complain. Every little bit helps when you are in my situation.

Next step – figuring out my gameplan on how to play the balance transfer game so I can get the rates even lower

I didn’t get my normal statement in the mail for the water bill and it completely slipped my mind that it would be coming due (it’s every other month – which really screws me up). It’s only $55.00, but I really ran down my account paying the $1,000 to my one credit card. I just wanted to bad to pay that large chunk and I was probably a little too agressive.

I received my disconnect notice in the mail on Friday, and I have until the 12th to pay. My direct deposited paycheck should be in the bank by the 11th. If it is, all will be well. Even though I love direct deposit, I have had things go wrong before so I try not to always “bank” on it being there on time.

I need to really start focusing more on my forcasting – my method that I use that I will be explaining in a later post.

Everyone, send good vibes that my check will show up in my bank account Tuesday

Technorati Tags: money, credit+card

In my anger at that card company, I did the next best thing…I used one of my other cards to transfer the balance over! That transfer should be completed within the next few days.

I’m not going to cancel the card though – because that’s what they want me to do. The transcript to the conversation I had with them before is here. They were quite willing to let me go.

So, I am going to keep the card. I’m still debating whether to freeze it or just make minor purchases and pay it off right away. They are not getting a penny more from me in finance charges

Technorati Tags: creditcredit+cards

Here’s how the telephone call went (not word for word, but you’ll get the idea):

Me: I noticed on my statement that my interest rate is 16.47%. I’m calling to see if I can get that lowered.

Operator: Sure mam, I would be happy to take a look into that for you. Just give me a moment to look over your account.

Me: Okay (cool – sounds like I am getting somewhere).

Operator: Sorry mam, but you do not have a lower rate available to you at this time. However, you do have another program that you may be interested in where you can defer your payments … BLAH BLAH BLAH (selling a program that you have to pay into).

Me: No thank you, I am not interested. I will be paying off this card now (which – I am not bluffing after hearing that they won’t lower my rate). What do I need to do to cancel my card (trying to get him to say, “no wait a minute” and offer me a lower rate)?

Operator: I can do that for you right now mam. (WHAT??? The call isn’t supposed to go like that?? At that point I am flabbergastered that they don’t care about my business – which I have NEVER paid late to this company).

Me: I can’t do it yet, I have automatic payments coming out right now that I need to cancel. But when that is done I just call back?

Operator: Yes.

Me: Okay. I will do that then (giving him ONE last chance to change his mind).

Me: Thank you very much. Goodbye.

I’ve read so many times to call the companies and you can negotiate a lower rate. Why didn’t it work here? Are they getting more gutsy and not buying into people calling and doing that? Or maybe because I only have $900 on the card I don’t matter to them.

It makes you wonder. I’m tempted to call again tomorrow and ask to speak to the manager. You know what – I am going to call again. This area needs to be explored more

UPDATE: 3/31/07 – I didn’t end up calling again. I ended up paying off the card

Technorati Tags: credit+card, credit

I have tried that with credit card #1, the big kahoona. They did lower my interest rate from 9.99% to 7.99%. I was pretty happy with myself and pretty proud that I was able to negotiate a lower interest rate.

Not even two months later, I get a change in terms of agreement from my card. They were raising my rate to 10.99%!! I started to wonder if that was my punishment for negotiating a lower credit card rate. Since then, it has grown and grown to it’s present rate of 16.9%. Have I been late with a payment – no. Have I done anything different – no. They just decided they needed more money from me.

I want to call again so badly, but I am not a fibber. They will see right through me when I say I can transfer my balance (it’s almost $24,000 remember) to another credit card. I have a feeling they will just laugh at me. Times like these I wish I was more agressive. Or at least I’d get a very nice card offer in the mail

Technorati Tags: credit, credit+card, negotiating+credit+card+rates, lower+interest+rate

The list goes on and on.

Late fees are all over, and I actually keep track of the late fees I pay within my Quicken file. I want to see how they add up and then take a good look at them. I started doing that a few years ago, and I have been doing so much better with avoiding late fees.

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