Credit Card Late Fees - A Slap in the Face from the Credit Companies

I’m not one for punishment. Don’t give me a time out, take away my toys or send me to my room without dinner. I don’t play that way. So it really gets my goat (yes, I’m trying to bring back the term “get my goat” as well as “chaps my hide” and “egads”) when the credit card companies slap my wrist with one of their late fees.

I work none stop, I’m raising a toddler, attempting to have a life so if I am ONE day late on a bill, I really don’t think I deserve to be charged with a $39 late fee, or like with my Discover card have my rate go from 0% to 22.99%!

I’ve tried calling to have the late fees and new rates reversed but in this current economy, it looks like the credit card companies aren’t being as kind hearted as they used to be. My new mantra? PAY MY BILLS WHEN I GET THEM. Not store them away in my bill pile, misplace them or let my daughter put Dora the Explorer stickers all over them. Starting today, I will pay all my bills the same day I get them.

Tips for the day:

• Pay On Time!
• Check Your Rate (who knows when they’ll change it)
• Check Your Charges! (make sure they didn’t hit you with a fee of some sort)

Here are some handy articles on the topic:

• Bank Rate
• Us Department of the Treasury
• CNN Money.com

I Am Power Less – 3 Ways I’m Trying to Save Money on Electrical & Gas

Lead Foot
You heard about the gas prices? Oh, of course you have. You don’t live in a cave. Or if you do, you must have some mighty strong WiFi to be reading this blog. In the spirit of our new national pastime, that is bitchin’ about costs at the tank, I’m conducting an experiment where I cruise, coast and relish every downtown slope I drive. Sure, I’m only going about twenty miles an hour on some streets, but my slow speed also puts me in the same category as the silver haired safe senior driver, there’s a reason they’ve lived so long. And instead of hopping in the car for short jaunts, I’m doing what oodles of Americans are doing these days. Hoofin’ it. I figure with the combo of walkin’ and coasting, some money will be saved.

My Life Electric
I like the light. At night I tend to be, and please forgive me, a big old energy hog. I don’t turn the lights off when I leave the room, I let the TV serenade me even though I’m not in the living room, and I separate my clothes for the laundry in like colors. But the new thrifty Sunny is going to be not just cost effective but ecologically impressive as well. My new rules?

1. Turn off lights when I leave a room
2. Turn off the TV when I’m not actually watching it
3. Do bigger loads of laundry
4. No more fridge lingering, I’m going to get in and get out, stat.
5. At night I’ll unplug my laptop and power down the monitor. Even a idle computer, when plugged in, can drain electrical.

I've Got Gas
I live in San Francisco, which means I do something that would seem totally insane in other parts of the country during the summer. I use the heater in the month of July. At night, it can be a wee bit nippy and before bedtime I turn on the furnace. But you know, I got blankets and I know how to use them. Also I find pleasure in an oven baked potato and a crispy oven baked mac & cheese. Instead, I’ll trim my gas measurement (but doubtfully my waist one) in cooking these things in the microwave, saving some hard earned coin by going electric instead of gas.

That’s my experiment and I’m stickin’ with it. I’ll compare this month’s bills with next month and see if these changes made a difference.

Have any tips? Let me know in the comments!

Begger's Banquet - The State of Cyberbegging

I flirted with the very questionable concept of putting a little “Donate Now” button on this page ala the Save Karyn site (the woman who famously raised 20k in donations in 20 weeks) or the woman who reportedly asked for enough funds to get a boob job (a task she accomplished).

But you know, I got myself into this mess and it’s up to me to get myself out. If you are feeling charitable, just click on one of the ads on this page, forward my blog to a friend, or just leave a comment (make it a nice one while you're at it).

But others, who are in much more desperate situations than I (home foreclosures, job losses, life or death surgeries), have hit the crossroads of desperation and have made a call out to the cyber community for any and all financial assistance. There are a variety of sites that list these requests for help (plus a countless amount of individual cyberbegging sites). When perusing the pleads you really get the feeling that you’re rubber necking on the head-on collisions of people’s lives. If you feel like donating or just getting your depression on, check out these sites:

• Cyber Beg – which boasts $21,809.27 donated to it's users so far.
• DonateMoney2Me - includes categories such as Medical Help, Families, Debt Help and Single Parents.
  
• Begslist - that covers donations, needs and “unusual requests”
  
• Send Me A Dollar -
  Simply asking people to send one dollar to a PO Box. Plus they have a Rate the Begger section with a collection of cyberbegging sites.
  

Now I'm gonna go into a dark corner somewhere and cry.

Those Aren’t My Clothes! eBay Items Explained:

Okay, I don’t want you to think that the reason I got into debt in the first place was by spending my all my cash on the flirty Marc Jacobs dresses and Italian silk Alexander McQueen shirts that are being streamed in my eBay auction postings on the right of this page. Those items I bought at a very secret location and were investments - purely for resale. It’s a profit deal, see. Okay. My disclaimer has been made. So there.

3 Things I Did Today To Save Money!

1. PGE Spoiled Food Reimbursement
On the evening of July 3rd, we thought someone was celebrating the 4th of July a day early with their armory of fireworks that they opted to set off in our own backyard. But no, it was not a celebratory act of patriotism; it was an exploding PG&E transformer. Our power was out for over twelve hours and all the food in our refrigerator had to be thrown out (do you know the FDA says that a unpowered fridge will only keep for safely cold for FOUR hours?). Such a waste.

But today I just cashed a check for $133.63 from PGE for spoiled food replacement! Yup, if it’s their fault and/or if they give you an incorrect estimate of when the power will be restored, you can have them reimburse you. You just have to have your receipts. Keep that in mind next time it goes dark.
SAVED: $133.63

2. $1 Kiddie Entertainment.
It was a bit foggy today and I was a whole lot of tired and I needed to come up with some toddler friendly activity that wouldn’t break the bank or my back. So today I said a big hello to Summer Movie Clubhouse at the CineMark with a theater admission of $1 each for a movie deemed “fun for the whole family”. Today the gorgeously art directed flick was Stuart Little. They are offering this deal from their theaters from Anchorage, Alaska to Kenosha, Wi. Check here to find the theater closest to you.
SAVED: (based on regular movie tix prices) $14.75

3. Side Street Parking
The parking meters in the area where I do all my “tradin’” costs me $1.50 an hour and all too often I don’t have enough change on me and I end up with a dreaded $35 ticket. My solution? Parking around the corner away from the meters. I get a little exercise, have a lower risk of getting a ticket and save money.

Saved: $3.00 (today’s parking) for the month approximetly $24 a month saved!

Total Saved: $172.38

And check out my fancy schmancy eBay post up on the right hand side of the page. Yeah, you know you need some new Marc Jacobs, so get bidding!

3 Things I Did to Spend Less Money

Here are THREE things I did today to cut down on my monthly spending:

1. Canceled My Premium Cable Channels. - Yeah, most of you would say “cancel the whole shebang, you indebted person you”. But sadly, I’m TV addicted. Giving up my HBO and Starz package isn’t too much of a sacrifice. Like I need to see Lindsey Lohen over emote one more time in I Know Who Killed Me. But say goodbye to the new season of Project Runway? No way Jose!
   SAVED: $30 a month.
   
   
2. Canceled “the Organic Box” by Spud.
   I try to provide my family with organics whenever I can. It healthier, greener and the produce that was being delivered to my door via Spud.com has been absolutely top notch and delicious. Plus each week I was able to adjust what I wanted so I wasn’t stuck with getting three bunches of kale that I had no idea how to use. For now, I’ll have to suffer with some B-List veggies and battle the crowds at the Farmer’s Market.
   
   If you’re interested in using the box, click here and you’ll get a $25 reward after 4 deliveries! Go to www.spud.com and sign-up using my super special promo code CR5-993460. (they deliver to Seattle, Portland, SF and LA) and hey, I get a kick back too, so go for it my friend!
   SAVED: $29 per week.
   
   
3. Downgraded My Coffee Beans
   Yeah, I know, I know, I can get some cheap ass French Roast beans in bulk from Costco but my body and fine tuned pallet are sadly addicted to Peet’s Coffee. For the last year or so, our poison has been the Sulawesi-Kalosi ($13.95 per pound), an amazingly smooth Indonesian bean. But today I bought a pound of equally tasty Sumatra ($11.95 per pound) at a savings of two dollars (plus I got a free cup of coffee with a purchase of a pound of beans).
   SAVED: $2 per week

Grand Total of Savings Created Today: $154 per month.

Day One: Canceling My New York Times Subscription

I woke up this morning with not the thoughts of sugarplums dancing in my head, but thoughts of bills doing the goosestep thru my wallet. What does my roster of bills need? Some editing. Sadly, it’s time to cut some fat from my overextended budget. First thing to go? My subscription to the New York Times.

Why do I subscribe?
1. It’s my favoritist paper in the whole wide world
2. When I read it, I feel like I’m a smarty pants.
3. I love the visceral feeling of opening the actual paper while sipping a cup of coffee. Pure bliss.
4. I’m obsessed with crossword puzzles (although by Thursday, I question my intellegence and self worth)

But it’s time to let go of that pert near $50 a month charge. I’ll be joining the masses who are now reading the paper online, for the big old price tag of free. Sadly, I won’t have access to the crosswords, but really do I need to be reminded of my lack of trivia and tidbits each and every week? (seriously, I have absolutely no clue to the answer “Creator of 1867’s “Grand Caricaturama”.)

Of course the day I announce to the world I’m canceling my subscription, the headline on page one of the NYTs is “Given a Shovel, Digging Deeper Into Debt”. Color that kismit.