Cutting Up My Cards

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Today I got approved for a debt consolidation loan. I'm embarrassed to say how much it was, but it will be used to pay off my ridiculous credit card debt.

And then, as TDR first suggested back when I was but a child, I will cut these fuckers up. I should have listened to him.

I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOU, TDR.

(I'm keeping one very-low-limit card for emergencies.)

[Tdarcos]

as TDR first suggested back when I was but a child, I will cut these fuckers up. I should have listened to him.

I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOU, TDR.

(I'm keeping one very-low-limit card for emergencies.)

When I was moving out of my place in Sterling, Virginia back in 2007 or 2008, I had to pick up a suitcase. I found a nice set, a soft case with an internal one and a shoulder bag, for $30 at Sears.

The cashier asks me if I want to sign up for a Sears card. Well, I'd had one a few years ago and when I ran out of money I couldn't pay it, so I knew I'd be turned down. Well, I hadn't applied for anything for a while and a turn down shouldn't show up too much on my records, so I said yes. I got turned down for the one from Citibank, but they did approve me for another of Sears' cards. Since it said on the application it was no fee - I wouldn't have taken it otherwise - I accepted it, and I walked out of the store with my luggage charged to the card they just that second issued me not having paid a dime for it. Plus they gave me a $15 credit for taking the card.

A few weeks later I get the actual card and discover it's not a Sears card, as I suspected, it's a Sears Mastercard, meaning it's a real credit card usable elsewhere. That's teriffic because it will help when I have to move so I can rent a truck to haul my stuff.

Next month I get the bill for the luggage AND a $59 a year fee. As it turns out, I kept my application, and sure enough, it's from HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A. and states the card has no annual fee. I send them a copy and I get a letter back saying they'll reverse the fee.

So I have the card for the better part of 5 years, and they've made money off me, because I do carry a balance sometimes when I buy something when I'm short. Well, in the entire time, I still have a $300 limit. I've never been late and I usually pay the whole balance off each month. The payment is due on the 8th of the month; my Social Security comes in on the 3rd. Well, their office is in Baltimore so it makes it - that's only about 70 miles away - but I'd prefer it was a little later in the month. And it would be nice if I had at least a $500 limit so that I could at least rent a car if I need it.

HSBC: No, I can't get a credit increase even though I've had it for five years. No, I can't get the date the payment is due changed to make it less likely I won't be late.

I saw a few credit cards from time-to-time supposedly offering credit limits over $500. I tried one, the sons-a-bitches weaseled out by saying the limit is "up to" $750, but turns out it's only $250. And the annual fee is more than HSBC would have charged me, had I not kept informing them every year on the anniversary of when they issued it that their contract said it was a 0 fee card. So I never used that new card, called them and cancelled it.

I check again, and Merrick Bank is also offering a credit card with a $750 limit. I apply, I'm approved, and it really is for $750. The annual fee is $72 but I can live with that. Plus, after the first year they change the fee to $6 a month. They'll also let me set the due date; first I want to make it the 12th, but the lady there says that if I have to worry about mail, why not make it the 18th. So I did.

I then called HSBC and told them what to do with their card. I knew better than to carry two cards; if I had two, I'd run a balance on both. I know myself too well.

After about 9 months of having their card Merrick Bank raised my credit limit another $200, and then later raised it another $200.

So I have one credit card, and it's with Merrick Bank because HSBC decided to be a bunch of bastards who felt that they were doing me a favor by giving me credit. When I found a better lender who offered better terms and more convenience, I moved to them. Merrick Bank has probably made more profit from me in interest and monthly fees in the about two years I've had it than HSBC did in the whole five years I was with them.

But the point was, I knew I could not trust myself if I had more than one card, even though the one from HSBC wasn't going to cost anything, I still decided not to get myself into too much trouble.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I have to make every mistake twice before I learn.

I got up to about $8,000 in credit card debt, paid that shit off.

Then I got up to about $10,000 in credit card debt, paid that shit off.

It really is worse to have a large balance, pay it off and then have the same thing happen to the same man twice. By this thinking, Die Hard 2 would be worse than Die Hard. And it is.

[Tdarcos]

I have to make every mistake twice before I learn.

Sometimes I feel that way. But, I learned a long time ago. I mean, at least I have the advantage that I'm relatively young on a fixed income, and so I know I don't have options to just go hog wild and overspend. As I said once in my blog back in 2009 about the bank bailout, "I'm given money [from my disability check] every month, and it's my responsibility to manage it. If (as a fictional example) I decide to use the money they give me to buy <s>liquor</s> soft drinks and hookers, instead of pay rent and buy food, that's my decision. (And my fun!) The only difference is, I don't have the <s>luxury</s> slush funds to <s>bribe</s> pay campaign contributions to get the government to give me extra money after I've been irresponsible; apparently the banks do."

I got up to about $8,000 in credit card debt, paid that shit off.

Then I got up to about $10,000 in credit card debt, paid that shit off.

I met a lady by the nickname of "Zoe" who when I went out with her, she told me how she more-or-less blew through her trust fund of $30,000 that I think she inherited, on most of the major debaucheries you can get involved in when you're 20 and female. That's why she was getting her college degree at 35, she'd spent most of the previous decade stoned.

I was kind of disappointed that Zoe admitted she didn't find me interesting until she told me that the last two guys who had sex with her both turned gay. I don't know if they realized they were gay or having fucked her turned them that way, but I guess I dodged a bullet there.

It really is worse to have a large balance, pay it off and then have the same thing happen to the same man twice. By this thinking, Die Hard 2 would be worse than Die Hard. And it is.

Someone on a TV show pointed out it's far worse to be rich and lose it all then to never have had a lot of money in the first place because you don't miss what you didn't have.

[Flack]

So far this week I bought a 40" monitor for my Commodore 64, a wireless HP printer/copier/scanner, and a set of digital turntables.

[Tdarcos]

So far this week I bought a 40" monitor for my Commodore 64, a wireless HP printer/copier/scanner, and a set of digital turntables.

Don't forget to pick up a copy of the bankruptcy forms from the U.S. District Court website. I did.

No, not for me, a friend wants help filling them out. He owes money on a judgement for a car accident and his license is suspended until it's paid. I said I don't think they take the suspension off if you go bankrupt; he says a judge told him they do. So, I'll help him out.

[AArdvark]

Flack wrote:

So far this week I bought a 40" monitor for my Commodore 64, a wireless HP printer/copier/scanner, and a set of digital turntables.

Then Tdarcos replied:

Don't forget to pick up a copy of the bankruptcy forms from the U.S. District Court website. I did.

Then I posted:

Remember when the blue ink was all made out of indigo dye culled from various plantations and the average ground water in the Amazon basin was thirty percent?


THE
SERIOUSLY NON-SEQUITUR
AARDVARK

[Tdarcos]

Flack wrote:

So far this week I bought a 40" monitor for my Commodore 64, a wireless HP printer/copier/scanner, and a set of digital turntables.

Then Tdarcos replied:

Don't forget to pick up a copy of the bankruptcy forms from the U.S. District Court website. I did.

Then I posted:

Remember when the blue ink was all made out of indigo dye culled from various plantations and the average ground water in the Amazon basin was thirty percent?


THE
SERIOUSLY NON-SEQUITUR
AARDVARK

Yeah, definitelly. This thread was about spending too much money, your comment about ink doesn't fit with the theme of 'spending too much money' or how we try not to.

[AArdvark]

What does downloading forms at a website have to do with Flack's recent purchases?

[Flack]

He is trying to infer that I might go bankrupt because I spend so much money.

I am trying to infer to him that I am rolling in cash.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I am not sure how much cash he has but I can assure you that Tdarcos is also rolling in it.

[Tdarcos]

I am not sure how much cash he has but I can assure you that Tdarcos is also rolling in it.

Are you out of your mind? I have enough to get by, but under federal guidelines my net income is below the poverty level. I am not 'rolling in it' I simply act very carefully to make sure I don't end up in trouble.

Do you seriously think I would write a game for a mere $5 if I had a lot of money?

If I had the money to move I might try moving to some really poor or inexpensive area such that things are a lot cheaper than they are here. North Dakota has something very low: cost of living and, unfortunately, something else also very low: daily temperatures.

Another place it's supposedly cheaper to live are the states of Mississipi and Louisiana.

Of course, I could go into giving people advice on how to (legally) avoid taxes and increase their own standard of living. Most people are paying a lot more than they legally have to, and by spending a small amount of money and doing minor restructuring in their lives, most people can save hundreds every month, thousands every year, usually without having to change their lifestyle.

I wish I'd known this stuff when I was younger, I could have saved a lot of money.

[Flack]

I am not sure how much cash he has but I can assure you that Tdarcos is also rolling in it.

In it or over it?

[Flack]

Of course, I could go into giving people advice on how to (legally) avoid taxes and increase their own standard of living. Most people are paying a lot more than they legally have to, and by spending a small amount of money and doing minor restructuring in their lives, most people can save hundreds every month, thousands every year, usually without having to change their lifestyle.

If step one is "eat more raw hamburger," I'm out.