I have a credit card through the AFM[musician's union...]
the interest rate is only 17.9%[insert pithy comment here...]
as opposed to the 24-26% many companies charge...
and about 2 years ago, before the economy tanked...
they were offering a "length of the loan" interest rate of 5.9%...
5.9% until it's paid off, as long as the minimum payment was made on time...
otherwise it would revert to 17.9%...
17.9% is not bad... but NOT as good as 5.9%...
so I transferred a couple of balances from significantly higher rate cards...
[they were in the 22% range...]
set up an automatic payment, felt good about the move...
& proceeded to ignore the account, just like I usually have done...
everything was fine until I used that card in July...
and since I do all my bill pay online...
including receiving e-statements...
I forgot to check my statement for a minimum payment increase...
the minimum payment increased by $3, I didn't catch it...
the July payment was subsequently $3 less than required...
so they not only hit me with a "late fee" for the missing $3...
but they zapped my 5.9% into 17.9%...
I, of course was NOT used to monitoring this account...
since it was on an automatic payment...
so the scheduled payment for August was not only $3 short...
the reverted interest rate made it $165 short...
so this morning, I was awakened...
by a very nice lady from the credit card company...
who wanted to know when I was going to get "current"...
as I was now, "2 months past due"...
after going back and forth...
re "my automatic payments"& perfect payment record...
we finally figured out the problem...
which I confirmed online later...
so on advice from her, I called "customer service"...
and found out that there was nothing that I could do...
to negotiate my interest rate down...
which meant that my previously manageable payment of about $190 p/mo...
would now be a very painful & hard to manage, $350 p/mo...
*SIGH*...[1 step forward, 2 steps back...]
however...there is a light at the end of the tunnel...
if I make at least the minimum payment, on time, for 6 months...
they will revert the 17.9% back to 5.9% !!!!
I was unaware of that benefit...[the interest difference is about $180 p/mo...]
so now I know where the refund for my health insurance premiums will go...
HMMMMMMMMMMMM....
I should also mention that they allow only 12 months...
of pre-scheduled payments to be set-up in advance...
& that this month was my last scheduled one...
so I might have been late with October anyway...
because I was unaware that I needed to set-up more payments...
in other words, this was a train wreck bound to happen...
and as I am working on my "money-handling methods" anyway...
this is a good time to deal with being more aware of what I'm doing...
since my problems come from avoiding "dealing with things"...
so I need to monitor all of my automatic payment accounts better...
perhaps that's the reason for this lesson...
"everything happens for a reason..."
my devotional today stressed that God would be my "only supply"...
for both spiritual & material needs...
so I suppose that means that this dance, is His...
I must have made some progress these past 2 years...
since I am feeling calm about all this...
trusting Him to provide all my needs...
and to keep me, Molly & the kitties safe & cared for...
God is good, ALL the time... [even when I do stupid stuff]
5 comments:
Things like this are why I don't do automatic draft payments. I want the paper bill in my hot little hands to look at, sniff, whatever it takes to remind me where every little penny is going. I'm not a cheapskate, really, but I have money control issues. I have my health insurance premium deducted from my pension check before I even see the money, but everything else gets a paper check in the mail. I don't even pay bills online. I'm a real dinosaur when it comes to financial issues, but it works for me. I have also learned to read every little smidgen of print on the credit card statement, even if I have to get the magnifying glass to see it. My VISA card through the credit union is managed by a separate company and they're a sneaky bunch.
Oh, yes - you might be amused by my money spreadsheets. I have one now for all incoming money and investments, but I used to keep one for all expenses - I even broke down the VISA statement into the categories - including one for my husband's pipe tobacco! After a few years of charting all our expenses I convinced myself we are very consistent on the spending and I didn't need to keep the outgoing sheet, just the incoming one, to keep track of our balances. Are you the spreadsheet sort? It's a painless method to track everything, and Excel makes it easy.
I loved reading "Calico's" comments because they are an exact reflection of my and how I deal with bills and money...even down to the spreadsheets! I tried one of the "paperless" billing options once but couldn't figure out how to get on the website to see what my payment should be so I was charged late fees. Explaining my difficulty in getting on the website was to no avail so I paid off the balance and closed the account and vowed never to try that again!! You might consider going back to "cave men" ways of handling bills! Those pieces of paper in your hand have a calming effect!
I want to offer some advice, not just comments about how I do it. You have admitted to having an adversion to money management so my opinion, for what it's worth, is that instead of merely committing to better monitor your auto payments, you need to stop handling things on automatic payments and credit cards and physically hand over money or write a check for every single expenditure you make. That means everything - utilities, credit card payments, groceries, everything. If you're in a store, pay cash or write a check. Write a check and mail it in with every bill. Sit down once or twice a month (depending on your bill schedules) and have a "money" evening where you pay bills and update your checkbook, add in any automatic deposits and generally, well, "commune with your money"!
I offer these thoughts sincerely, hoping I can help.
...I appreciate all the comments...
if you are familiar with the Dave Ramsey program, he does advocate the "pay cash" for everything method...
and I see the validity of all your suggestions & methods...
this problem was TOTALLY my fault for NOT checking the website... I knew that I'd used the credit & just forgot to check the minimum payment...
I have done MUCH better with paperless bills, e-mail alerts etc than I ever did with paper bills...
there are mail theft/delivery issues where I live now and frankly,
for me, getting an e-mail statement notice that takes me right to the bookmarked website where I sign-in & pay my bill right away, is a good thing & it's done...
loosing my Quicken nearly a year ago
really messed me up, but now I use a ledger again...
this slip is the first "late" payment I've had since changing over to online & for some, it's been almost 4 years...
hopefully, I'll start making some money soon & can avoid using the credit, which was the basic root of my problem...as well as get the internet back at home which really aids in monitoring things...
again, I really appreciate all the support & advice from everyone...I just hope I'm not too frustrating when I vent... thanks again...
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