Credit card progress and debt setbacks
I have been talking to my credit card companies for some time now trying to get myself better rates. One of the major problems I was having was my balances were too close to the limit in order to offer me a better interest rate. A technique I applied was to ask them for a credit line increase, sometimes this can offset the utilization to reduce the interest rate.
My Bank of America card got raised by 1k and I called this month and got the interest rate down to 17.24% APR which is much better than that 25.24% I had been paying. My Citi Dividend card got a nice $3600 increase bringing my utilization way down. Called them last night and asked them if they could reduce my 11.24% APR, they said no. I asked for a supervisor and sat on hold awhile, got a rate specialist and asked her for a lower rate. She told me I had a good rate, which I told her that is a decent rate, I want a great rate. After telling her that I get offers in the mail all the time for much better rates she finally threw 9.9% APR at me, sold!
Now I must admit the bad news regarding debt not the event. It is coming up to my one year wedding anniversary and we both would like to celebrate it in style since it is the very first one. We’re going to stay at a Jacuzzi suite and go to a fancy restaurant, and for now the plan is to hold over the cost on a credit card. I’m also trying to figure out what we should be spending on each other. I don’t want to start any fights over trying to budget this stuff. These minor increases are temporary and will be my focus to get rid of so I can get back on track. I’m also going to start setting some money aside now in preparation for Christmas so I try to avoid doing this in the future.
Congrats on getting your APR lowered on your BoA! I currently have 9.9% on that card.
I tried getting my credit limit increased on one of my Chase cards (currently has 0% APR) from $1500 and I was denied.
I think many credit card companies have a predetermined formula for raising your limit. The card I use regularly (I never carry a balance on any of them) gets frequent, small limit increases. The card I use while I’m on vacation sits unnoticed until I spend on it and pay it off. Then a month later I’ll get a letter saying they increased my limit by such and such thousands of dollars. Since I’m a ‘deadbeat’ I’m not sure I would have any luck having them lower my rate. My rate INCREASED when I stopped carrying a balance.
Definitely save for your anniversary. I generate a pool of money that is used to fund such events (and others like my car insurance, tax man, etc) that I add to weekly just like any other bill. When those bills come in, I pay them out of that pool - not my regular budget, with no stress or worry. And that $200 dinner for our anniversary doesn’t do a dent in our finances either.
If you set aside the money for a whole year, its much easier to absorb into your budget. And yes, start saving for Christmas, too!
I used to be a deadbeat when I was a teenager. When I went off to college and didn’t have an income anymore, that’s when my credit card debt piled up on me. Now I have myself a chunk of debt to try to pay off here hopefully within about two years time. At the same time I am starting to learn the power of a budget now whereas in the past I save a little, pay all the bills, and the rest is used to operate for the month. I would get hit by my car insurance (which really used to hurt but I finally hit 25) and it would get me off track and take awhile to catch back up. I realize it would be better to save money for that bill when it comes so I don’t feel its effects. This is one of my goals for next year’s bill.
So far anniversary is costing me about $300 and I haven’t figured out the gift part yet. First year is supposed to be paper or a clock, so I considered getting her a watch. I’m running out of time too.
Christmas is even worse because we would spend way too much on each other not including family. This year I think we are going to cut back the spending limits as we can’t move forward if the progress moves back to where it was.
A great paper gift that would not break the bank (I wonder how you’ve spent $300 on it already without the gift!) could be a box of small blank folded cards with her initials embossed on them, with matching envelopes. They can be used for short correspondence and especially thank you notes.
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