lark1964
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Post by lark1964 on Jun 16, 2023 14:18:49 GMT -5
curious - what's the credit hit on closing a single CC account? I got a mailer today, basically imploring me to convert my inactive Citi card to a different flavor, which I already have and was planning to keep when I'm done paying shit down (Citi has early access for concert tickets...). I'm debating calling and asking them to transfer the available balance on the inactive card to the one I still use, and closing the one account. anyone do this recently? I have, but it was well before the mortgage bullshit 10-12y ago. so idk if this is even still possible. TIA! When you cancel a card, it dings you, not terrible, something like 3 points, but it's still a ding. And if you're trying to do something like apply for a mortgage or get a car loan, it can be a pitb. It won't take long for it to clear up, but it's still there. Having the "open credit" is better for you in that respect. But if you don't have any plans to do any large financial purchases, go for it, one less thing to annoy you. ijs.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jun 16, 2023 14:41:52 GMT -5
oh, I know the rest of that. thank you I was just curious what the hit would be for a single card, bc I feel like that would still count as a closure if I combined available balance onto one. I'm already intending to close a bunch once I win my race, just keeping them open for now in order to keep the utilization % under 30% between now and then. a few points isn't the end of the world, and I'm in solid shape now. not expecting to need any new large loans any time soon, either. thanks!
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jun 17, 2023 9:38:25 GMT -5
I canceled my last credit card with a fee when I couldn't get the CC company to stop charging an annual fee. I called my credit union and they said it was the worth the small ding to stop paying the annual fee, especially since it was a card I didn't use often.
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ners
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Post by ners on Jun 20, 2023 19:43:22 GMT -5
Update Race 1
55,286.15 (1/3/2011 $97,382.42 MPT5)
Still on track to hit stretch goal.
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Minnesotagirl7
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Jun 23, 2023 8:18:41 GMT -5
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muffyinthered
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Post by muffyinthered on Jun 24, 2023 13:51:09 GMT -5
MuffyintheRed#2 6/23/2023 160,479.07 (06/22/2020 $175.394.16)
Amount paid -$1,358.13
CU Savings - $25,670.40
This was a pretty good month. Everything went down! Now if I can just keep this going, everything will be good. But just when you think everything is going good, is when something happens! The second half of our property tax is due 7/31 and I have been putting money away for that, but it is more than I have saved so will have to go into the CU savings to take the rest, and then repay myself. But at least I didn't have to go into saving to put $500 to estimated Quarterlies.
Hope everyone is having a good summer. Finally got some warm weather in Wisconsin. Now need rain!!!! It is always something...
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minnesotapaintlady
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Jun 26, 2023 8:54:45 GMT -5
curious - what's the credit hit on closing a single CC account? I got a mailer today, basically imploring me to convert my inactive Citi card to a different flavor, which I already have and was planning to keep when I'm done paying shit down (Citi has early access for concert tickets...). I'm debating calling and asking them to transfer the available balance on the inactive card to the one I still use, and closing the one account. anyone do this recently? I have, but it was well before the mortgage bullshit 10-12y ago. so idk if this is even still possible. TIA! When you cancel a card, it dings you, not terrible, something like 3 points, but it's still a ding. And if you're trying to do something like apply for a mortgage or get a car loan, it can be a pitb. It won't take long for it to clear up, but it's still there. Having the "open credit" is better for you in that respect. But if you don't have any plans to do any large financial purchases, go for it, one less thing to annoy you. ijs. If it's an old card it can be a lot worse. My credit history went from 12 years to 4 when I closed one card that happened to be my oldest line as well. It's been quite a few years, so I don't remember exactly how bad it was but it was a shocker, definitely more like 30 than 3...maybe even more. It recovered fairly quickly, like within a year or so, but had I known I would have just kept it open.
But cards less than a couple years old I close all the time. I churn for rewards and sign on bonuses and close at least 2 a year with minimal effect.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jun 26, 2023 9:27:33 GMT -5
well, it isn't my oldest (that I will never close...) but it's not really new either. I opened one card ~18mo ago, the most recent new one prior to that was probably 5y prior? I'm not sure exactly how old this one is.
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jdnstl
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Post by jdnstl on Jul 2, 2023 21:15:27 GMT -5
UPDATE Mar 1 23 Jul 1 23 Auto Loan - 18,954.27 17,408.64 Student Loans – 31,522.23 30,810.45 TOTAL - 50,476.50 48,219.09 Difference of -$2,257.41 EF/Savings – $354.92 $1,055.13 Difference of $700.21 jdnstl [2]: 07/01/23 $48,219.09 (2/4/22 $58,544.29 C276)
Total ptd - $10,325.20 Percent ptd – 17.64% Hello Racers! I continue to plug away. I think the hardest thing about debt is once you start, it's hard to end the cycle. That and my pay just doesn't keep up with living expenses. Yes, I got a raise in November, but the cost of just electricity, gas to drive, the cost of the upkeep on my house, the cost of groceries....it just seems I can't get ahead. I've done everything I can do to address medical issues but now I've got about $6k in medical debt I'm working to pay off (after using all my FSA funds). Add that to just the basic cost of living and I feel like I'm getting no where. I'm sure everyone here has had that same feeling at some point. That's why I decided to go back for my MBA - in order to climb up the pay ladder. But it will cost me a lot too in more student loans. I will likely add a third race for the CC debt that is now on 0% for medical bills and a fully new HVAC system. But it will be later....when I'm ready to tackle it. Happy 4th and RACE ON!
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 3, 2023 11:54:09 GMT -5
jdnstl, you're definitely not alone in the struggle to end the cycle. I'm currently in the process of reminding myself, daily, to be patient and just keep paying the way I have been the past month or so until school starts. When it does, that will inject small windfalls into my budget for each month that I'm in school but I tend to get anxious when I look at my debt numbers and that leads me to unnecessary purchases which adds to what causes my anxious moments. We've got this!
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jdnstl
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Post by jdnstl on Jul 4, 2023 7:33:24 GMT -5
nidena thanks. I know I'm not alone but sometimes when we are in the middle of it, it feels like we are. I think that is what makes this community so good....even though in the moment I may feel alone in the struggles, I'm not. I don't know if I have ever told you, but I appreciate your constant posts. Thank you for sharing your struggles openly and honestly. Even if I don't agree with what you are "thinking," reading through your processing of situations is helpful and creates the community here. A lot of times we post about struggles and maybe ask how to handle situations, but few people post follow-ups and share what they decided to do and the final outcome. But not you....you share the process from start to finish and I really appreciate that. You are right....WE'VE GOT THIS!
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 4, 2023 10:48:21 GMT -5
Aww...thank you, jdnstl! Sometimes I feel like I may overshare but typing things out helps me to work through my decisions. Coincidentally, I was going to share about my road trip. It cost more than I expected but my two weeks on the road cost less than the 10 days that I was home last October. And this trip included me taking a large-busted friend bra shopping. Her only income is SSDI so it isn't much and there's no way she can afford to spend ANY money on proper fitting bras, let alone $300 on five so that she has enough for a week's worth of wearing. I also bought some pottery and other small art from an Artists Co-Op in Tucson. These things aren't the unnecessary spending that I referred to above. THAT is the three bags that I bought at Vera Bradley last week. I'm taking the two that were regular price back this week. My other spending was a result of my city sending me a letter to tell me that my grass is too tall. Granted, I haven't mowed this year but the plan was to tackle the front yard this summer and get it started on its way to being a pollinator and vegetable/fruit garden. Those plans got sped up and I bought a bunch of stepping stones, pea gravel, and no-dig edging last week. Unfortunately, we also had a huge storm on Thursday and I was without power for two days. With it raining off and on most of the weekend, I didn't get as far as I hoped with the yard project. I'm hoping the evidence that I have STARTED on my yard will deter the city from penalizing me for the grass. Grass that is now laying mostly flat and not standing tall. lol. All that to say, I now have a balance on my CC that will take more than one month to pay off. Mentally, feeling like I HAVE to pay it off each month is very stressful. That is the goal and I was successful for four months. Now, the goal is to be able to do that even if I take a road trip and/or buy someone a bunch of bras--this tends to be my most common gift. In the interest of paying down the CC, I do have a number of www.damselcorsets.com items that I have bought over the last year that I no longer like or I bought the wrong size so I will be trying to get those sold within the ReSale group on FB. I've already sold one piece for the same amount that it cost me. Her stuff really does hold its value so selling them again just requires patience until it's sold. In the meantime... Happy 4th, y'all!
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Minnesotagirl7
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Jul 5, 2023 11:05:59 GMT -5
Shoutouts! nidena - Good update and looking forward to your anniversary! lark1964 - Sorry for the struggles, hope things have turned around! ners - Nice update! muffyinthered - Awesome update! jdnstl - I hear ya, and 100% agree with your comments about this community! Smileys: Link to Smileys
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jul 7, 2023 10:04:44 GMT -5
decent update this month, with another $3k paid down. the two CCs are at $10.3k and $6100, with the interest rate on the latter resetting this month. I'm going to let it, because if the 2nd bonus lands the way I expect it to, I'll be wiping out the remaining $6100 when the funds come in - stock sales need to clear. if things don't go as I expect, I'll BT it one more time. I will put the rest of the bonus in the HYSA. my next plan of snowball attack is a non-racing balance. it's currently on a promotional rate at 4.99% til next March. depending on the job sitch, I'll either pay off what's left at that time from savings, or BT it if I want to keep more liquid savings on hand. either way, very manageable chiver78 7/7/23 $16,510.75 (5/9/20 $138,495.31)
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jul 7, 2023 15:43:39 GMT -5
chiver78 I am still amazed at how many $$$ you have paid off from where you started just over 3 years ago. Congratulations.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jul 7, 2023 15:59:22 GMT -5
thank you . I told y'all, I know that I bring in a stupid amount of money with my career path. I knew that once I paid off enough that I was actually getting traction with the monthly payments going out, that I'd get this ship righted real quick. I just needed to make that first huge chunk, and that came from the house sale right before COVID. it bugs me now that I cleared $80k on that sale and burned all of it between the down payment on the current place and debt paydown, but I'll build that back soon enough.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jul 7, 2023 16:04:55 GMT -5
it bugs me now that I cleared $80k on that sale and burned all of it between the down payment on the current place and debt paydownThat was NOT burning it chiver78. That was being smart with it.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Jul 7, 2023 17:54:49 GMT -5
it bugs me now that I cleared $80k on that sale and burned all of it between the down payment on the current place and debt paydownThat was NOT burning it chiver78 . That was being smart with it.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 7, 2023 18:59:49 GMT -5
debthaven, I don't think I've ever taken offense to any of your questions and there is no reason to do so with the most recent one. The reason that I bought her five is because two or three really aren't enough when you live in a very hot state and have a lot of volume to corral into place. Undergarments need to be rotated--you shouldn't wear the same one more than one day in a row (for its longevity) and you shouldn't wear the same style every day (for your own comfort). At size 40H/HH, this is even more the case, especially in places with 100+* temps.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jul 8, 2023 4:07:21 GMT -5
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 9, 2023 11:00:45 GMT -5
You know that phrase "Can't see the forest for the trees" which means you can't see the big picture because you're focused on the little details. Well, I encountered a situation where I couldn't see the trees for the forest.
The washing machine that came with my house is from 1992. It has three cycles and two still work, most of the time. I couldn't leave the hot water spigot on because the hose would leak. I've been so focused on the fact that I need a new washer that it didn't occur to me, until this weekend, that I could fix the hose leak issue just by replacing the hose. Why did it take me this long? Probably because I hate temp fixes. I hate band-aid fixes. There were too many of them on airplanes while I was in the AF.
Anyhoo, I realized they have their place. When the hose set costs $40 and the new washer costs $500-$1000...
Yeah, I got the new hoses. I got sprayed a couple times when I turned the water back on and realized they weren't tightened all the way BUT I can now leave the hot water on and there are NO leaks.
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lark1964
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Post by lark1964 on Jul 13, 2023 17:28:04 GMT -5
How-do, All! OK, I'm going to bitch and moan for a bit, I'm very frustrated, did I make progress? Of course, but I had setbacks and I'm pissed off about them. Care Credit 350.00 -50.00 0.00% 300.00 Mattress 590.00 -90.00 0.00% 500.00 Wayfair. 935.23 -60.00 38.99% 900.45 Citibank 3,013.95 -100.00 26.74% 2,959.64 Toyota 6,016.92 -375.00 4.65% 5,664.91 NCL - BofA 1,844.65 -75.00 29.99% 1,813.81 Lowe’s 16,745.24 -500.00 26.99% 16,545.02 Discover 17,732.67 -435.00 25.74% 17,678.57 Target 10,675.79. -360.00 27.15% 10,689.81 Home Depot 1,404.78 -60.00 26.99% 1,366.72 Trumark 17,832.97 -453.38 7.99% 17,875.95 77,142.20 -2,558.38. 76,294.88
So, continuing the turtle mode, I was offered the "skip-a-pay" for the month of July from my Trumark loan, so $35 later, I just earned some interest. This should have given me roughly $450 to spend, yes? HA! I had to replace my thermostat. But because it wasn't enough, I wound up having to buy two window units, and basically, $450 was eaten up and thensome. Meanwhile, I made the mistake of going to the grocery store - oh, we all need to stop eating, it just is not financially feasible anymore! And laundry detergent, toilet paper, and that stuff we consume, that food stuff? Yeah, it costs a lot! And then just to add insult to injury, I got a speeding ticket ($100) and then had to spend some money on a tire. So here we are, July 13, I'm out of money, and Lyft isn't paying well because it's summer, and Lyft isn't great in summer. I knew this, but it's only putting gas in the car and keeping the car moving right now, it's not giving me even the extra $100/week I thought it might, it's more like $50, and that's squeezing it. Then, there's my roommate situation. I let a friend move in last fall, and she was doing well and then - she got sick. And hasn't paid rent since February. She has cancer. She's on welfare, now, has no job, the state is dragging their feet getting her the money they keep promising, she's got six kids who all live nearby, and only one is willing to take her in, but every deal she's tried to close on a new house has been outbid. So she's trying, but not succeeding. Meanwhile, while she's a lodger in my house (this is the Pennsylvania definition), and I had given her a written warning that she owes me rent, and I can technically take her to court and evict her, now she has cancer, she's on disability (unpaid as of yet), medicaid, etc., and it becomes me being a jerk for wanting to evict her. And I really could use the rent she was paying and is no longer. Plus she's using my electricity and water... *sigh* And then - my prescriptions changed, my doctor ordered new and more expensive goodies for me to take, and... I had to use my Discover card to pay for them. If I'm really pushing myself, I'm hoping I'll at least be able to get Lyft to pay for the new prescriptions so that my payment next month to Discover actually pushes Discover down some more. Bigger and more despondent *sigh*. And yet there were bright spots: the play I did in June received critical acclaim here in Philadelphia, and a producer saw it, and he's going to make it the opening production in the 2,800 seat theater he's renovating in the city. And he wants the Philadelphia cast to be the opening week's cast. This is a great thing, and it will pay well, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for them to say, "Well, we want the whole cast... except YOU!" I know, I'm being silly. But I'm also just - really feeling the weight of things, you know? We shall prevail. Rah! Rah! Sis! Boom! Bah!
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 15, 2023 9:34:18 GMT -5
The VA sent the payment schedule for my Housing Stipend. This will definitely help me plan debt paydown. The PL should be gone by the end of November. I've also got a HELOC application in the works. My plan is to transfer the HVAC debt to it for the better interest rate and use some to get a survey of my property. While the rate of the HVAC financing is the biggest (pun intended) reason for me to transfer the debt, a smaller reason is that I hate the website for it. When I go to it, all I can view are previous statements, dated at the end of each month. I can't see what my balance is after making my 1st of the month payments. I have to call them for that. Very annoying. So, I'll use the HELOC to get rid of that debtor, get a survey, and pay off the portions on my CC that were for home-specific purchases like pea gravel and stepping stones.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 19, 2023 15:43:12 GMT -5
The HELOC is approved. Just waiting until next week for the most current mortgage statement to come out since it will reflect the updated payment from my escrow analysis. Since it will be coming from my new mortgage servicer, I sent the servicer change letter to my insurance company, too, so they can update my mortgage info on their end. I'm anticipating the UW will ask for an updated Declarations page so I wanted to take care of that step before they ask for it. I also got an email from USAA that they raised the limit on my Visa. This is my daily use card. I don't plan on using it to the limit...or even half the limit...but this will help put some more distance between "Available Credit" and "Credit Usage". ETA: I got the payoff letter for the HVAC financing. It's $22 more than the actual purchase was back in March despite me having paid more than $900 towards that debt these past four months. Yet another reason I'll be glad to have that debt transferred elsewhere.
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ners
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Post by ners on Jul 19, 2023 17:52:21 GMT -5
Race 1 update
54,797.86 (1/3/2011 $97,382.42 MPT5)
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Minnesotagirl7
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Jul 21, 2023 9:57:36 GMT -5
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muffyinthered
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Post by muffyinthered on Jul 22, 2023 14:28:22 GMT -5
MuffyintheRed#2 7/23/2023 159,652.19 (06/22/2020 $175.394.16)
Amount paid -$826.88
CU Savings - $25,672.10
It has been a crazy month, of course when aren't they! Our TV died in our bedroom, so had to get a new one. That will show up on next month's charge. Then when we went to Best Buy to get a new one they are working on the road and it is all gravel. Well low and behold, the day after we went to the store, I get into the car and it shows that one of the tires is low. Long story short, we picked up a chunk of rebar in the tire and had to find a place to get it fixed pending getting new tires. My husband just looked at the tires and said we could wait a month or two longer but definitely before the snow flies we need new tires. At least we can wait past this month when we have to pay second half of property taxes. So we are going to be broke for a while!
Have a good one everybody.
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Minnesotagirl7
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Jul 24, 2023 14:02:21 GMT -5
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Minnesotagirl7
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Jul 24, 2023 14:12:55 GMT -5
Where do folks stand on family and money advice? Background: About two years ago, I helped a family member (let's call her Julie) with some money troubles. Helped her negotiate down some collections, set up a budget, cancel some auto-pay things she was no longer using, and develop a pay down plan for her medical bills and credit cards. She got to a really good spot. Fast forward to now. Her medical bills are paid off, and she should have ~$4k in credit card debt. We were together for lunch the other day, and she let me know she's using her credit cards again. With her take home pay and living arrangement, this should not be necessary. We talked briefly at lunch, but she said she didn't feel like getting into it. It sounds like she's ok for the most part during the week, but goes out with friends on the weekends and spends $$$. She said she doesn't get it, she doesn't make extravagant purchases. I told her it doesn't need to be one big thing, but a lot of little things will add up and have the same effect. Where I'm going with this is: 1) Do I continue to try to help her figure this out and get back on track? or 2) Leave her be; I've given her the tools in the past and its up to her to use them. Thanks.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 24, 2023 15:41:48 GMT -5
Minnesotagirl7, has she asked you for additional help? If she hasn't asked, I'd let it be.
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