Credit Card Debt Elimination: Really, Open What They Send You

Continuing on the theme from yesterday, it cannot be stressed enough that you need to read the mail that comes to you. Yes, you are busy. Yes, there seems to be a lot of it, especially when you start to be behind in your payments on your credit cards. Even if you aren't behind...

...Read Your Mail!!

Why? Credit card companies are just money-hungry entities that have one purpose: Separate you from your hard-earned money. Do they care that they have cut back on hours at your job? NO! Do they care that with rising fees and interest rates on the credit cards that you struggle with paying some of your bills? NO! Do they care that you are thinking of skipping meals just to have enough money to put gas in your car to get you to your job that is, in effective, paying you less to do more? NO!!

Often, the mail that you particularly want to notice are the ones that have "Important Information About Your Account" on the envelope. What it usually contains is information that the base interest rate of your credit card is going up for all future purchases. They are required to notify you in writing. I can recall one credit card that I had in the past that was a fixed rate and was going to change to a variable rate that as a percentage above the prime interest rate. It was going to cost me more money. At the time, I had a little bit of money, and I angrily wrote them a letter and paid off the card. And I don't believe for a minute that they had any bad feelings about it. Just be sure to read your mail so you will know what your rights may be.

Have a GREAT day!

The Tracking Continues

Grocery shopping and eating at home has certainly paid off. Breakfast was eaten at home (to the delight of the dog) and supper was another cheap frozen pizza from Friday's excursion to the grocery store. It becomes increasingly difficult on the weekends because for years that was always the time that we would go out to eat our meals (and run the credit card bills even higher). You can be on your best behavior, though, an the credit card companies will jack your interest rate even higher.

My wife has stellar credit and she has always used credit cards responsibly (unlike myself). She was known for transferring balances to other cards and the rates would usually be in the single digits for the interest. Smart move. But she recently has had some activity from the credit card company that has been quite disturbing. While her transferred balance rate remains fixed, if she happens to use the card to incur any new charges, the rate that she will be charged is nearly 30%!

OUCH!!

Not only that, another credit card has lowered her available credit so that she has a higher debt to income ratio (a unit of measurement that the credit rating companies like Trans Union use to figure your credit score) potentially lowering her credit score. That's a double whammy.

Just be sure to read your statements and mail that the credit card companies send to you. It will make you realize that they are ruthless, greedy companies that don't give a crap about YOU and care about increasing their bottom line more.

Have a GREAT day!