hearts and roses
Mind Reader
I don't know how i got myself into this mess, I can't believe I did this.
I have a separate checking account from my regular account that has $250 deposited into it each pay period. I set that up years ago to pay off an old debt and it was automatically withdrawn once a month. I also have a $500 credit line on this account so if I run short, I can dip into that.
So, before easy child and I left for Puerto Rico, I jumped on line to check all my balances and the above account said I had $250 PLUS the $500 line of credit. If I had gone on just 15 minutes later I would have seen that a payment was about to be withdrawn from the account and that I had ALREADY dipped into the line of credit. So, there I am using the card to that account freely, thinking in my head that not only do I have $250 cash, but I also have the line of credit to fall back on. NOT! That account it now overdrawn by $138 - not only did I use the $250 that wasn't really there, but I dipped way past the line of credit. Stupid stupid stupid! I am now going through all transactions for the past 3 months to find out how I did this. In the meantime, the overdraw of $138? That is ALL overdraft charges and my bank will NOT budge on them.
Then, I received a call from a loan company that I have telling me that I have incurred a late fee of $49 on my account because although they received the money on time, it was not the correct amount. WHAT? Well, I should check my statements more often - instead I just do auto pay on line through my bank and although I always pay more than what's due (they don't mind getting more than what's due, I will tell you that), turns out that when I made the scheduled payment for July 2nd, it wasn't processed by the bank until the 5th (after the holiday) and they didn't receive it until the 7th, thereby making it two days late, so I got slammed with a late fee of $49, which I didn't notice on my statement for August and just paid what I normally pay...boo boo...they slammed me with another late fee because I didn't pay the July late fee. And the woman that called me was so infuriating...she kept talking even after I said, "Please give me a moment to pull up this account so I can see where things went wrong" but she just kept blabbing in my hear. I finally said, "Okay, WAIT A MINUTE. Please STOP talking so I can have the advantage that YOU do by having this account in front of ME". She said, "Mam, there is no reason to get rude with me" WTF? I wasn't the one being rude, she was - I asked her politely twice to allow me the time to bring up my account so I can view it along with her and she ignored me. Whatever. So, she said they would waive the one fee if I paid right then, which I did because it was scheduled to be paid anyway - but get this! They don't actually 'waive' the fee - they take the $49 off the balance of the loan. That is BS. I asked her to please remove the fee from my payment but she said it was not their policy to do that.
Then, I discovered that I have an unexpected bill for $350 due TODAY. When I get paid on the 15th, I have about $300 that I can put into my savings, so an unexpected bill, while not welcome, is usually not a problem if I REALLY have to pay it. But, because of the added expenses this summer (traveling to FL twice for H's dad, Puerto Rico), I don't really have any extra cash around. I am going to pay it obviously, but now I will be VERY short on grocery money until the 15th because when I get paid on the 31st, that is my "big bill" pay period - you know the one where I pay my car loan, Sallie Mae, the biggies. I altered my bills for this period by $100, which will help, but still.
I know compared to what some are going through, this pales in comparison, but for me, right now, it's a big deal. So, please send me some good financial juju if you can - thanks!
I have a separate checking account from my regular account that has $250 deposited into it each pay period. I set that up years ago to pay off an old debt and it was automatically withdrawn once a month. I also have a $500 credit line on this account so if I run short, I can dip into that.
So, before easy child and I left for Puerto Rico, I jumped on line to check all my balances and the above account said I had $250 PLUS the $500 line of credit. If I had gone on just 15 minutes later I would have seen that a payment was about to be withdrawn from the account and that I had ALREADY dipped into the line of credit. So, there I am using the card to that account freely, thinking in my head that not only do I have $250 cash, but I also have the line of credit to fall back on. NOT! That account it now overdrawn by $138 - not only did I use the $250 that wasn't really there, but I dipped way past the line of credit. Stupid stupid stupid! I am now going through all transactions for the past 3 months to find out how I did this. In the meantime, the overdraw of $138? That is ALL overdraft charges and my bank will NOT budge on them.
Then, I received a call from a loan company that I have telling me that I have incurred a late fee of $49 on my account because although they received the money on time, it was not the correct amount. WHAT? Well, I should check my statements more often - instead I just do auto pay on line through my bank and although I always pay more than what's due (they don't mind getting more than what's due, I will tell you that), turns out that when I made the scheduled payment for July 2nd, it wasn't processed by the bank until the 5th (after the holiday) and they didn't receive it until the 7th, thereby making it two days late, so I got slammed with a late fee of $49, which I didn't notice on my statement for August and just paid what I normally pay...boo boo...they slammed me with another late fee because I didn't pay the July late fee. And the woman that called me was so infuriating...she kept talking even after I said, "Please give me a moment to pull up this account so I can see where things went wrong" but she just kept blabbing in my hear. I finally said, "Okay, WAIT A MINUTE. Please STOP talking so I can have the advantage that YOU do by having this account in front of ME". She said, "Mam, there is no reason to get rude with me" WTF? I wasn't the one being rude, she was - I asked her politely twice to allow me the time to bring up my account so I can view it along with her and she ignored me. Whatever. So, she said they would waive the one fee if I paid right then, which I did because it was scheduled to be paid anyway - but get this! They don't actually 'waive' the fee - they take the $49 off the balance of the loan. That is BS. I asked her to please remove the fee from my payment but she said it was not their policy to do that.
Then, I discovered that I have an unexpected bill for $350 due TODAY. When I get paid on the 15th, I have about $300 that I can put into my savings, so an unexpected bill, while not welcome, is usually not a problem if I REALLY have to pay it. But, because of the added expenses this summer (traveling to FL twice for H's dad, Puerto Rico), I don't really have any extra cash around. I am going to pay it obviously, but now I will be VERY short on grocery money until the 15th because when I get paid on the 31st, that is my "big bill" pay period - you know the one where I pay my car loan, Sallie Mae, the biggies. I altered my bills for this period by $100, which will help, but still.
I know compared to what some are going through, this pales in comparison, but for me, right now, it's a big deal. So, please send me some good financial juju if you can - thanks!