suzilmcmullen Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 I feel kind of funny writing here. I'm not actually experiencing a lot of credit problems yet. But I am deeply in debt. The problem I am having is that because I have so many bills I occasionally do misplace or forget about a bill or some other thing will happen with the credit card company. Sometimes they don't change an address and I don't get billed and forget I haven't seen a bill until it's too late. I'm sure you all know what I am talking about!I never realized for a long time why my interest rates kept going up. In fact, I never even realized they were usually. It wasn't until one of the companies raised my rate to 30% and my bill went from 280 to 500 overnight! I was shocked and upset and learned then about how if I'm late with only one company the rest have the right to raise the rates to the max that state allows! How unfair and abusive is that?!I was able to opt out of that one card so that I could pay the previous rate and I was able to get some of the others to reduce my interest rates. But here it is many months later and somehow my payment was not automatically deducted when I set it up to be. I realizes this morning when I checked my bank balance that the payment was not taken out and that it is one day late.So how do I keep them from starting a chain reaction? If they raise my payment to 500 dollars I won't be able to pay it. Then when they are over 30 days on the report, the others will follow suit. I guess I'm just looking forward to what's next. I guess I should say that I am 46,000 dollars in debt. So there is NO WAY for me to get these balances paid down very quickly.So here I am wanting to learn all I can about the system so that I don't end up going down a really bad path with all this.Suzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyle7289 Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Welcome Suzi,Read and read some more. All the information is here for you. There are several options for you. It sounds like you need a "system" to keep track of your bills. Make yourself a check list and and each month make sure that all your bills are taken care of that month. There are several programs on the net that organize and help you to keep track.Again, welcome !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzilmcmullen Posted May 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 It could be too late for a better system. Actually, I really believed that I set it up to be deducted this month and it just didn't happen. I should have checked yesterday when I could have taken care of it.Is any effort being made to change the unfair and abusive ways that credit card companies are handling their interest rates? Why should it be legal for one company to raise a persons rate based on something that happened with another? When did things become so bad anyway? Someone was really sleeping at the wheel.The last time I had this problem I was shocked to find out that unless I'm a few months behind on the bill they won't talk to me about a hardship reduction in the interest rate. It seems a little underhanded to tell a person that in order to help them they need to stop paying their bills! But it makes me feel like I need to just start leaving the money in the bank and let them sue me.Is there a search thread here? And how many of you have paid for the consultation service? Also, are we allowed to mention companies by name? Yeah...I know I should have read the posting standards LOLSuzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darsar Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Hi, Suzi - the search feature is at the bottom of the screen (below the most recent post). There's a drop-down box, select "Search Forum". That's how I get there... there might be a shortcut, but I'm new myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferDale Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Suzi,There is always light at the end of the tunnel. All you can do is try your best and I would start with a filing cabinet... make a seperate folder for each of your main payments... cell phone, car, insurance, mortgage, whatever you need and put all the information in each of those folders.Then, make a seperate area with a folder for each credit card you have including all that info. On top of the filing cabinet, keep a folder that says "bills to pay" and this will essentially be stuff that is not filed yet but will be once you pay it.Set yourself an exact time EACH DAY to finger through each folder in your filing cabinet. It could be after you eat breakfast at 7:30am or just after dinner at 8:00pm or before bed or whenever. THe key is to make it a HABIT. Even if you know there is nothing to be paid that day, look through the name of each folder and eventually your system will be flawless. You'll never miss anything.As for it "being too late" I don't think that is the case. Granted, I don't have an answer for your... but sometimes good things happen when we least expect them.Cheer up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Hiya Suzi,I have a steno notebook and each month I list my bills by the date they are to be paid. When a bill comes due I pay it and mark it paid. I have a little stand and it holds my notebook so I can walk by and notice which bill to pay. When the month is done I flip the page and start allover again. It might not work for everybody but it works for me.Lefty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merkurfan Posted May 17, 2007 Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Is any effort being made to change the unfair and abusive ways that credit card companies are handling their interest rates? Why should it be legal for one company to raise a persons rate based on something that happened with another? When did things become so bad anyway? Someone was really sleeping at the wheel.Suziyes, Keith Ellison house member from MN has introduced a bill that would forbid CC's to "jack your rate" because they think you might become a problem. Or if you missed a payment on a different card.story here..http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=252773(this is not a policital endorsement, or commentary in anyway.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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