Tuesday, April 15, 2008

credit cards suck

i am so freaking angry right now! i got my mail today and in it was a bill from one of my credit cards--the one i'd just very very recently made a balance transfer with, and lo and behold there's a late charge on there ($39) and my interest rate has been bumped from 0% to 9.08% with interest from the last month totaling $16. so that's $55 bucks in "fees" that i owe them even if i pay the balance off today! the thing is, i pay my bills at the post office when they arrive, so there's no chance that i got the bill and just stuffed it away and forgot about it--they either never sent it (a little trick credit card companies are known to pull) or the post office didn't deliver. either way, i know it's still my responsibility to know when my bills are due, but come on! i called to try to get them to reverse the late fee at least, but no dice, they didn't care that i would close the account and transfer the balance (i got another 0%, no transfer fee offer in the mail today too). there was just nothing they could do. i don't blame them, i'm a little time customer who will probably never make them much money, but i thought since i've had an account with citibank for several years, that might make a difference. so, i'll chock it up to my own naive dependence on paper bills and keep a closer eye on the payment due dates from now on.
also, my damn laptop battery hasn't come yet, it's been a month. i called them last week and they quite unapologetically told me they'd send it out "tomorrow". maybe they're a scam too! anyone every ordered a battery from batteryrefill.com?
the good news is, i've run the numbers on my new position at work and i'm pulling in 700 to 800 a week, after taxes. so that's between 2600 and 3000 a month net earnings. i should easily be able to pay 2000 a month towards debt which would have me free and clear by september. of course, there's always the unknown factors, and i am taking a few small trips between now and then that'll set me back a bit, so, let's be real and say by early november, i should be debt free! just in time to find some quiet warm place to nestle in for the winter. ahhhh.

1 comment:

zenny1313 said...

what a bummer with the credit card,I had that with a GM MasterCard, in my case they dropped the fee,you could try again and get a supervisor,also a Citibank customer too,and my account dropped below the minimum balance and they started charging for my checking account,talked to the lady at the bank in customer service,they put a freeze on checking account charges,(minimum balance) for one year until I got back on my feet.it's just good to know that they have them little things like that,maybe you could swing by the bank itself and talk to customer service.congrats on the plan to financial freedom,I can say from experience it's a great feeling when your finally out of debt,today all my needs are taken care of, its my WANTS that get me in trouble. keep up the good work.