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| Tuesday, November 10, 2009 |
| Update from Boston Gal's HQ |
 Last night I came home to a stuffed mailbox which included both good and bad news in those #10 business envelopes.
Citibank sent me a letter to inform me my Mastercard interest rate is rising to 29.99%. According to this New York Times article - A Squeeze on Customers Ahead of New Rules - I am not the only one getting one of these notices. Luckily I don't carry a balance on my credit card and I am good about paying my monthly bill on time. This is the only credit card I carry and it is a rewards card. If they start charging me a yearly fee and/or drop the rewards part I will have to go shopping for a different card.
My monthly Comcast bill arrived and once again the balance jumped dramatically. My bill increased by $30.00 - signaling that it was time to do the old retention call dance. This time the best offer they had for me knocked the bill back by $20.00. I swear I would just drop the cable TV portion of my bill if I was not including that for my basement tenant as a "free" perk of the apartment. I seem to be watching less and less TV. Maybe that will change with winter just around the corner. Either way, I will have to seriously revisit the cable TV issue when next I am renting the basement apartment.
My car insurance company sent me my annual mileage statement form to fill out. Generally I qualify for the low mileage discount since I try to keep my driving to a minimum. With my new car I feel like I have a clean slate. The form always asks questions like "How many miles have you driven in the last 12 months" and current odometer readings. I admit to not tracking my yearly driving. Whenever I see this form I always wish they would just tell me what I put down as the odometer reading last year - that would answer the question of how many miles I have been driving for the last year! This year, I am finally going to get smart about this. I will fill out that form and then scan it and save it before mailing it back to the company. Lazy book keeping will never again stand in my way of qualifying for this discount!
I am still playing with my Knifty Knitter Long Loom Set and plarn (yarn made from plastic bags). As you can see in the picture above, I completed my first larger project - a welcome mat. Well, it was suppose to be a welcome mat, but I kind of muffed the last row and now one side is wonky. I think I know what I did wrong, so hopefully my next one will be good enough for me to put out on public display on my door step. This mat is not going to waste - it has found a home in my side porch/mud room and will be hanging out under my winter boots. It took over 100 brown plastic bags to make that mat. I am going to focus on making some smaller squares for now. I think I should be able to knit those together into a larger and more interesting door mat. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 10:54 AM *
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| 12 Comments: |
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In the past with the form to fill out I have gotten the low mileage discount by looking at oil change/car maintenance receipts, they contain the mileage at the time of the visit...estimate from there.
Now I have Liberty Mutual and they automatically know based on the milage entered at my annual inspection...this leads me to believe the Mass RMV knows your milage stats.
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Chase sent Snork Maiden a letter saying they'd closed one of her US accounts because she didn't use it. I haven't seen this preemptive move before...
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I got the same notice from Citibank. I did close the account, though - I've switched to a different rewards card anyway, and just really felt a need to vote with my feet on that deal!
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I've received letters from all the traditional banks (Emigrant, Citi, BOA are the ones I have wound up with multiple cards with due to takeovers) I have credit cards with increasing rates and lowering limits. AMEX also has done so. I have over 800 FICO scores and don't run a balance so their cards were quickly removed from my wallet. I have replaced them with cards from credit unions that are far better (lower rates and fees) and have cash back also.
You gotta join a credit union. They are all around and are far more member friendly.
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Regarding the low-mileage discount on car insurance, someone told me that there is actually a U-shaped curve to rates, meaning that you get a discount if you drive very little, but you lose the discount if you drive very, very little. I think the logic was that with so little driving, you fall out of practice and hence become more dangerous. Does anyone know if this is the case?
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Even i do prefer to clear my entire bill's payment on time to avoid any kind of interests. It is better to switch to another reward card if current one levies extra charges.
Must to mention, your doormat is cool and i wish to utilize my little bit skills to perform like that.
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Citibank sent me an interesting offer - the rate would go up if I did nothing, but it would drop to 9.99% if I did a balance transfer of $3,000 or more. The 9.99% would be the rate on the transferred balance and any new purchases for a year.
Like you I don't carry a balance on any of my cards and just use them for the convenience and rewards. I'm willing to let the rate pop up to whatever they want, but I'll cancel the card if they start charging an annual fee.
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My Chase credit card recently increased the "variable" rate from 15.99 to 22.99 percent. I don't carry a balance (and don't recall having ever signed up for a card with a variable interest rate) but I don't like the fact that they neglected to e-mail or mail me anything about the rate increase. I only found out because Mint sent me an alert. I immediately cancelled it because it's not my oldest, it has a low limit and I don't like their way of doing business.
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BG, I think you are going a bit over the top, obsessing about a $20cable bill, in view of your overall accumulated financial hoard and the fact that your renter is contributing a significant amount of monthly income to you. Sorry, but I think you are beginning to sound like a scrooge! You might consider how your quality of life in the present could be different if you live a little, are generous to yourself and others, rather than feeling compelled to squeeze each and every dollar.
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I disagree on the cable bill. Why should BG pay $20 more than she has to? Comcast is always pulling this crap. They don't have set rates. The lazy pay more. Anyone who expends a little effort and calls them gets a reduced rate - but as BG mentions you have to go through this whole retention call crap. Annoying, but in the end worth it.
That $20 she is saving is really $120.00 if it is the standard 6 month deal. BG has been making calls like this since at least 2005 according to her link to the earlier post. Add up all of those savings and you start to see how BG is accumulating all of her "financial hoard"!
If she can cut out TV all together - why not. One less bill. I am sure she will look at market conditions next year and adjust her basement rent accordingly. Just as many people cut the land line phone cord and are now 100% reliant on a cell phone - folks are starting to cut the cable cord and get their entertainment from the internet or via DVDs, etc.
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I got a notice similar to Amy's. I don't carry a balance, so I haven't changed the card. However, I did go ahead and cash in most of my rewards points, in case they decide to "adjust" those, as well.
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I received the exact same rate increase on my citi card, despite having never made a late payment and carrying a good credit score. It's all thanks to the Credit CARD Act of 2009.
Right there with ya on the issue of cable. I canceled my cable outright this year and I feel great about it (after always feeling that Time Warner was overcharging for their bare bones cable service given how rarely I turned on the tv). Now, I watch tv shows online and get movies through netflix while saving a bundle.
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In the past with the form to fill out I have gotten the low mileage discount by looking at oil change/car maintenance receipts, they contain the mileage at the time of the visit...estimate from there.
Now I have Liberty Mutual and they automatically know based on the milage entered at my annual inspection...this leads me to believe the Mass RMV knows your milage stats.