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Discover® More Wildlife
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR:
10.99%. |
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Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit
Intro Rate: 0.00% until Jan 2010, APR: 8.15%. |
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Citi® Platinum Select® MasterCard
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: Up to 12 Months,
APR: As low as 6.74%. |
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Blue from American Express®
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: Up to 12 Months on
purchases, APR: 2.99% for 12 months on transfers. |
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TrueEarnings® Card from Costco
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 3 months on
purchases, APR: 1.99% for 6 months on transfers. |
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IberiaBank Visa® Classic Card
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 6 Months, APR:
7.00%. |
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Discover® More Card
Intro Rate: 0.00%, Time Period: 12 Months, APR:
0% for 12 months on transfers. |
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In This
Issue
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Cool Quote |
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Where did that fee come from? |
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STATISTIC: Spending and Account Balances in
2008 |
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Be systematic about cutting your debt |
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Stop Eating Your Way Into Debt! |
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"Outraged and discouraged, I came across
your website..." |
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Recession: a good time to negotiate credit
card debt |
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Household Math™: Minimum Payment Balance |
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Frozen HELOC |
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Cable Bill High? Phone Costs Up? Now, Let's
Talk |
Cool Quote
"If the American people only understood the rank injustice
of our money and banking system, there would be a revolution before morning."
--Andrew Jackson
More cool quotes from past issues
Howdy Scott:
I am writing to you about a unique situation that occurred
about two weeks ago, and I was wondering if anyone else you know of, and/or
subscribes to your newsletter, might have had this happen to them.
I currently carry a VISA card from Compass Bank, which is
based in the southeastern portion of the US. I have had the card for a number of
years and rarely carry any sort of a continuing balance.
I decided I wanted to payoff the balance, which at the
time was approximately $48.03. I had not received my statement yet, so I went
ahead, typed up a letter, enclosed a check for the balance-in-full, and mailed
it off to Compass Bankcard's payment address in Decatur, AL.
When I checked the Compass Bank website 10 days later, I
noticed that the outstanding balance on the card was $1.00. The first thought
that came to my head was that I misfigured the amount of the payment for
balance-in-full. Upon further examination, the dollar had been billed to my
account as a payment processing fee.
I immediately contacted Compass customer service and asked
them exactly what the fee was for. The representative told me that, since I had
not enclosed the remittance portion of my statement, there was an added $1.00
fee for processing the payment. I told the rep I was ready to close the account,
since I considered this a money grab. She went ahead and waived the fee. I asked
her to pass along a message to her supervisor that there should never be a
transaction fee for processing a payment.
Any thoughts?
John
The Twin Cities of Minnesota
Finish reading the article
Looking across spending as a whole in 2008, a phase change
began in the summer. After a bump in the May/June time frame from tax refunds
and credits, spending declined by $400 / month / household. Spending eroded even
further (a $200 drop) in November along with consumer confidence, bouncing back
only slightly for the holidays.
Looking by category from January to November, there is a
greater than 20% decline in entertainment (-22%), Home – including furnishings,
services, and home improvement (-21%), gas/fuel (-32%), and travel (-24%).
Spending also declined in food, shopping, and bills/utilities, with the only
increase being spending on financial advisors as people look for help during
uncertain times.
Looking at average account balances is also interesting.
From August to December, the average savings account was halved to $5,500.
Fortunately, credit card debt remained roughly constant, but investments
declined by 24%, while loans (mortgage, HELOC, student loans, and personal
loans) increased by 11%.
More credit card and debt statistics
Be systematic about cutting your debt
Many consumers have decided to make 2009 the year they
whittle down their debts. In fact, according to a survey by Franklin Covey, the
self-help planner company, it's the No. 1 New Year's resolution.
That's good, because most people can help themselves to
lower debts without calling in outside help, says Scott Crawford, head of a new
debt-reduction website called DebtGoal.
See story here
At this time of year, there are usually three things
people are panicking about: how to lose weight, how to save money, and how to
get organized. We have already touched on losing weight, so this week I would
like to touch on saving money.
Hopefully, most of you realize that you can get into deep
debt if you buy a house or a car you can't afford. That seems to be pretty
obvious, although a lot of people do it anyway. But that is not what I want to
deal with today. The Bible talks about the little foxes that spoil the vine.
What that is talking about is the little things that sneak into our lives
without us realizing it. They start picking away at the vines in our lives until
it destroys us. One of those "little foxes" is dining out.
Dining out is among the top causes of personal debt. Most
of us hunt for the best interest rates on our mortgages, and we complain about
the awful price of gas the whole time we are pumping it.
Finish reading the article
Dear Scott,
I lost my promotional rate of 4.99% for the life of credit
(American Express) over a month ago. (It changed to 18.99% in a split second). I
was late with my payment, I admit. This happened for first time in my credit
history. I did mark the bill as "PAID," but I didn't post the actual payment
online. Life is complex, and sometimes things just don't work our way.
Anyway, I called customer service and requested to have my
promotional rate reinstated. My request had been denied within 48 hours (I
learned this today from CSR!!!! 4 weeks later); however, nobody from AE took the
time to inform me about it!!! It seems that American Express deliberately kept
this for themselves in order to charge high finance charges. I was charged twice
in a row some $120 (I owe them about $7,000) in finance charges.
Outraged and discouraged, I came across your website and
decided to try your books. I got them in the mail yesterday and educated myself
overnight. Empowered and knowledgeable about my actual customer rights, I called
customer service today AGAIN. I did recite them a couple to-the-point sentences
of yours and stated clearly--in plain English--what I wanted. And, guess what:
They apologized for not informing me about the denial of my request in a timely
manner and were very "happy" to help in any way. note: As an ESL
(English-second-language student) I appreciate ready-to-use sentences/examples.
Results of a single call: (1) Late fees of $38 waived
without any further questioning; (2) Promotional rate 4.99% reinstated within 10
minutes while I was on hold; (3) The difference in the two interest rates
credited back to my account.
Call time: about 15 minutes. Total credited to account:
$206.15 (but with my rate reinstated, I'll be saving much more). I had no
difficulty dealing with CSR and lady on the phone was actually very helpful and
understanding. I also called my other credit cards regarding the lower interest
rate, and I was 100% successful.
I just want to say thank you for writing this money and
life saving book. Money is extremely emotional. I never knew that; I'm in credit
card debt for the first time in my life. I hold two bachelors in Finance and
Management but had no idea that I have so much bargaining power as a customer of
theirs! I will recommend your powerful stuff to everyone I know. Please Scott,
continue the good work and if you can, advertise more.
Lenka
Learn how to "Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt"
Recession: a good time to negotiate credit card debt
You might think this is the worst time to try to negotiate
a better deal with your credit card company, but you're mistaken. It's true that
the nation's credit crunch has resulted in card issuers reducing credit lines,
canceling unused accounts and raising interest rates. But you don't have to sit
by.
Having regular conversations with your credit card company
can be highly profitable. It's especially important if you're in a money jam or
loaded with debt. Those conversations should include asking for lower interest
rates, waived fees, higher or restored credit limits and, in dire cases,
settling card balances for less than you owe.
See story here
Jeff owes Visa $2,500. The credit card company has an
interest rate of 19.6% APR. The company requires a minimum payment of 2% of the
unpaid balance, rounded to the nearest dollar. Jeff makes no additional
purchases with this credit card and makes only one minimum payment monthly.
How long will it take him to pay off $500 on the $2,500
balance?
Answer this math problem
Dear Scott:
I thought I'd share some more tidbits with you, for
whatever they might be worth. So far, I've been reading the "handwriting on the
wall" with 20-20 vision.
Back in the spring, when Countrywide and WaMu were
reported to have sent out hundreds of thousands of letters freezing people's
HELOC accounts, I told my wife to immediately draw out the full limit on our
GMAC one. She didn't like the idea, because we didn't need the money but went
along with my judgment on the matter (will wonders never cease?)
By summer, sure enough, GMAC informed us that our HELOC
was frozen. But now, since it was at prime + 1%, we're paying a much lower rate
than on our first mortgage with them, and we only have to pay interest each
month. I know they hate THAT. And we have no true "consumer debt" other than our
house. No cars, no nothing. We only use credit cards as a form of "guerrilla
financing" for our businesses - balance transfers and teaser rates. It's kept
our cost of working capital below 6% for many years.
In October, when things started getting crazy with...
Finish reading this article
Cable Bill High? Phone Costs Up? Now, Let's Talk
Frustrated with his hefty and mounting monthly bill for
TV, Internet and phone service, Alan Weinkrantz of San Antonio decided to call
his provider, AT&T, shortly before Christmas to ask for a discount.
"Times are tough, and I don't think I can keep paying
these rates," Mr. Weinkrantz says he told an AT&T representative. A
communications-industry consultant who keeps a close eye on the space, Mr.
Weinkrantz says he hoped for a reduction of about 10% to his $159 monthly bill.
To his surprise, AT&T reduced his bill to...
See story here
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