Friday will be a good day!

I love Fridays, not just because every other Friday is a pay day but because it's the beginning of the weekend and the weekend for me = working at my part time job, God Time on Sunday and football!!! Okay, to be honest I also love Friday because it's pay day!

This Friday is going to be extra special because I am paying off my American Express card!!! I owe $1633.14 and my husband is helping me pay it off. This will leave me with three more credit cards to pay off.

Target- $844.06

Gap $973.48

Juniper $2698.89

The Target and Gap will be paid off on my birthday and hopefully my husband will help me pay off the Juniper card on Black Friday.

Oh Friday How I Love Thee!!!

I must confess!

I have been a bad girl. I did a lot of spending on credit cards for the wedding and our first month as newlyweds. Right now all the money from my paychecks has been going to credit card debt. Thankfully all the debt should be paid off by my birthday which is in the middle of next month. Boobee says that once I pay off all the debt ( almost $8000 of it), all the credit cards are going back into the freezer. I couldn't agree more! I am so done with credit cards!!

It worked, it really worked!!!

I was watching part of Oprah's debt diet today and David Bach was talking about playing "The Credit Card Game". Never played... neither had I until today. The Credit Card game is simple. Your goal is to try to get the credit card companies to reduce your interest rate or any other fees such as an annual fee or service fee, etc. They try to deter you or tell you it can't be done but you have to threaten to close out the account or ask to speak to a supervisor. It may take a few phone calls and a lot of talking but if you are persistent you can win the Credit Card Game.

Here is how I won:

I have one credit card from about 6 years ago that has an annual fee. This is the first card I got after I jacked up my credit in college and was just happy to have a credit card, I didn't care what the fee was.

The fee is $48 and I just did not want to pay it so I called the company up to begin round 1 of the Credit Card game.

First I talked to Steve. I told Steve that I have been a member for 6 years, never paid late and would would like to have the annual fee removed from this year. Steve had the nerve to tell me that I would have to pay the fee because there was nothing they could do to remove the fee. He then proceeded to say that the annual fee is in the contract and they can't just remove the fee. He said, " if we remove the fee for you then we have to remove the fee for everyone, and we can't just do that".

I then said, "Steve can I speak to your supervisor?"

Steve said, " Sure but there is really nothing that she can do. We are not allowed to remove the fee.

I said "Okay, I would still like to speak to him or her."

After being on hold for about two minutes, Pam ( the supervisor) came on the line and that is when I pulled out the big guns. I started off sweetly with the usual formalities such as "Pam how are you, good I'm great, thanks"

but then... I said the magic words: Pam I have been a member for 6 years and have always paid on time, this is my only card with an annual fee and I considering closing it out because of the annual fee.

Pam said, "Okay, hold on let me look a little deeper into the account." Then she said, " listen I can not totally take away the away the $48 fee but I can reduce it to $8.00.

A discount of $40......... I'll take it!

I thanked Pam for her time, and hung up the phone.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how I won my first time playing the Credit Card game. I'm sure I could have gone further and tried to get a credit for the $8.00 but I didn't want to be greedy. It was pretty easy too.

Have you ever played The Credit Card Game? If so, how did you fare? Did you meet a liar like Steve? If you haven't played take some time and play, you never know what you will win!!!

YBP

My credit Score rose!

My credit score from Transunion is a frigging 714!!!!

Go Me, Go Me, Its my birthday!!!!

That is only 86 points away from my goal of 800 by the end of the year. Who knows if I will make it but just being so close is making me happy!!!

How do I know that's my credit score?

Well I went out today and bought myself a new ( new to me) car!

Before leave I just want to say, car dealers really treat you special when you have a good credit score.

More on the purchase later

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Credit Card Increases Galore!

I received some major increases to my credit cards within last couple months. When I do use my credit cards I always pay them off when they are due and never leave a balance but these increases will assist me in getting the highest credit score possible for when I go house shopping again.

Here are the cards that have given me increases and their new balances

Macys $2500
Barclay Bank $2500
Home Depot $2000
Target $1000
Gap $800

With all my cards I have a total of $11000 available credit with no carrying balances. Not bad for someone who got her first credit card in college, maxed it out and had it fall into collections.

Maturity makes a difference!!



until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Late fee on Home Depot Account

Let me vent!

I told my FI to make sure he pays the home depot credit card balance of $62.00 today, and he said he did. No problem, but here I am checking my mint.com statement at 12:35 am and see a balance of 62.00 under Home Depot.

hmm... I thought as I log on to Home Depot.com to check the balance, and discover that yes there is a not only a balance of $62.00 but also a $20.00 late fee.

Now right now I want Home Depot's customer service and curse them the hell out but it's 12:38 in the morning and customer service is not open.

Wait until I get to work in the morning....

Until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

I HAVE A COLLECTION ON MY CREDIT REPORT!!!

and I am livid. I cannot believe this. I worked so hard to get my credit straight so I could buy a house and now I have a collection on it. The collection is from my days living with roommates.

The Culprit: Comcast Communications

Balance: $379.00

Plan of Attack: Operation Credit Repair

This is the only negative thing on my credit report( Transunion and Experian). I am going take care of this ASAP. By the end of January this will be off my report.

Post on Operation Credit Repair Tomorrow!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

Credit Score Update

Last night I ordered a copy of my credit report and FICO score from Equifax.com... and my FICO score is a 660. That is not that good. I need to get it above a 700 by the end of the school year. I am thinking of buying another property, probably a triplex or quad, and I need to have a not good but excellent credit score. The great thing about getting my credit score and report from is Equfax.com is that it analyzes your credit score and tells you what is helping and hurting your score plus what you can do to get your score higher.

The top factors hurting my score are:

• new account
• short account history
• high credit usage
• seeking credit ( inquiries)

The top factors helping my score are:

• No serious delinquency
• Bills paid on time

What I can and must do to get my credit score higher:

• pay off my $700.00 Home depot credit card balance- I have already started this, I have an automatic bill pay of $60.00 every two weeks coming out of my checking account, and will have this paid of by the end of March.
• NOT OPEN OR APPLY FOR ANY MORE CREDIT. I will also see if I can get some of these inquires off my credit report.
• pay off the two cards I use most- gap and my ITunes Visa at the end of each month

I also have not had credit for a long time. My first student loan account was opened in 2001, so my accounts have not really aged. As my accounts continue to age my credit score will go up.

Due to my debt snowball I should also have 2 student loan accounts and my car loan paid off by mid June. I hope that will increase my score as well.

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

My thoughts on the Credit Crunch

I just checked my part time job 401K balance, even though I knew I shouldn't have and am a bit upset. Last week I was about $20.00 shy of $3000.00 and now I am at $2,731.91. That does not make me happy.... which brings me to my thoughts on the credit crunch.

This is all OUR Fault. The Bible says that you reap what you sow and what is done in darkness will come into light. Many of us were buying houses that were buying houses that we couldn't afford, and then we trusted the advice Realtors and mortgage brokers gave us without educating ourselves. We, including myself were using credit cards like they were cash and leaving above and beyond our means. Very few of us were saving money, and the nations savings rate as a whole is less then 1%. We put certain people on a pedestal (CEO's and wall street workers) and and expected them to act holier than us, when in fact they are just like the rest of us.

The damage is already done, so what can we do now. I do believe we need some type of bailout, and since I'm not an economist I don't know what kind is best but I do know what I can do for myself and my family.

They are:

1. Save at least 10% or more of my income, this is a must!
2. Get rid of all bad debt, ( really don't have any but $700.00 on a home depot card)
3. Aggressively pay off current debt ( car loan, student loans)
4. Live within my means
5. Continue my education so I can be more marketable and get a better paying job.

I think that's it. What do you think we as Americans can do to protect ourselves during these turbulent times.

Until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP