I had a very rude awakening a few weeks ago.
I'll admit I have never been the wisest with my finances. But I've always paid my bills on time and I have never defaulted on a loan or a credit card. I was never a big saver but I have managed to sock some money away in a mutual fund.
Not to complain but I've had some hard hits these past few years. And while I've gotten through them emotionally, financially is another story. It started when I charged the vet bills when I had to put Onyx down. Then my landlady put the house on the market, and I had to move and the landlady refused to return my deposit. Then I got burglarized twice and had to replace the items that were stolen, then had to move AGAIN. Then I got cancer. Not sure if I broke a chain letter, or a mirror but I sure hope that seven years is up by now.
I don't have much family. My father is deceased and my mother is totally out of commision (let's not go there). My brother helped me when I was on chemo. Helped me loads, but he is not made of money either. So aside from my brother's help I haven't had much family to lean on.
But Aunt Visa, Uncle MasterCard and my good ole' cousin American Express was there, and I whipped those babies out when I needed them. Now granted I did make some bad choices, and bought things I probably shouldn't have. So I'm not completely innocent.
When I got sick. I stopped looking at my finances because there was nothing I could do about them. I was employed at a non-profit organization that steadfastly refused to give me a raise or a promotion in spite of the fact that I was doing a completely different job with a lot more skill and responsibility. My salary was static and there was nothing I could do. Looking at my finances were stressful, so I stopped looking. I knew I would have to deal with it someday.
That someday came on March 28th.
When I switched jobs, I had to go on a COBRA plan for two months. That COBRA plan cost me $593 a month which is a big expense and I HAD to pay it. (Not having medical coverage could be life threatening for me). To make matters worse COBRA does not and will not accept credit cards, only checks and only by mail. (huge pain in the ass) In order to make these payments I had to pay the rent a little late those months, and I never got back in cycle. Since then I've been paying my rent on the 15th instead of the 1st. My landlord never complained.
I also recently transferred almost all of my debt to a credit card with a very low promotional APR. I have excellent credit and get these offers all the time. The caveat about a promotional rate, is that if your late even one hour, they take that promotional rate away, pimp-slap you down Broadway and jack your rates to sometimes as high as 24%. This could turn my low manageable monthly payment and raise it to one I could not afford. These promotional APR's can be traps so buyer beware.
So I have two main expenses each month, rent and this credit card payment. These are payments I make as long as there are blood in my veins.
Here is what happened in March. My credit card payment was due on March 2nd. So I paid it. Then I paid my rent on the 15th. All was well with the world..so I thought.
One Friday night after I had gone out to dinner with some friends I found a notice slipped under my door. It was a "pay us or else" notice from my landlord. My immediate reaction, was that I had forgotten to pay my rent on the fifteenth and now she was complaining. I sat down and paid my rent immediately on line WITHOUT looking at my checking account thoroughly. If I had I would have noticed that I DID pay my March rent. I pay my bills online so I had a record. My landlady just hadn't received the check yet. (more about that on another post)
The next day I got another billing statement from the low APR credit card. (Chase). The bill was due on March 30th. MARCH 30th!! Because I had paid my rent twice I didn't have the money to cover the credit card bill in time for the March 30th payment. (I don't get paid until the 31st) I was over-drawn. I was fucked.
I did call Chase and explain the situation. How it was unfair that they had billed me twice in one month, and could they please just change the due date a few days until after pay day. Could they please I have had this credit card for years and have an excellent track record. I begged, I cried, I even pulled out the cancer card, something I almost never do. They wouldn't budge.
In the end I had to borrow the money from a friend and got it covered. I've been able to pay the friend back. But this experience has forced to take a close look at all my finances and about to do a major budge overhaul. Which is why I haven't posted in few weeks.
On another note, I can't help but think that Chase's billing practice was strategic. I have been making a payment to them for years and NEVER has a payment been due before the first of the month. They must know that most people get paid on the 15th and the 30th and by changing their payment schedule this way, while I have this promotional APR, appears that they are "banking" on my missing the due date so they can raise my rates.
Fuckers.
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