I declare War on my bank

[jamhead]

Originally Posted by mzpro5

Amen - same here

And, since you are such a good customer and pay off your balance monthly, you will become the beneficiary of a new "good customer" annual fee.

Bank of America is deciding what the fee should be....39 to 99 dollars, and Citi bank wants to levy a fee if you do NOT carry a 2500 dollar balance each and every month.

So, pay the high interest, or pay the fee. But make no mistake, you will pay. Oh yeah, and cancelling that card (if you're a long term member) will knock your credit rating down.

[Haywood]

Originally Posted by dentman

These banks have a ton of exposure and they should earn a good buck on taking that risk . The problem is once again greed takes over and now they want blood money .

Exactly. I wasn't *****ing when they were making a 12% margin, which I thought was pretty generous. I could even swallow hard and deal with 15-18%, but 30%? There is no justification for that when the customer has a good payment history and a decent credit score.

My other ***** with credit card companies is that they will use one payment being one day late as an excuse to hike your rate to 30%. There is NOTHING reasonable about that.

[DaemonJ]

Originally Posted by Haywood

Exactly. I wasn't *****ing when they were making a 12% margin, which I thought was pretty generous. I could even swallow hard and deal with 15-18%, but 30%? There is no justification for that when the customer has a good payment history and a decent credit score.

My other ***** with credit card companies is that they will use one payment being one day late as an excuse to hike your rate to 30%. There is NOTHING reasonable about that.

Completely true and those companies know you have no choice. Unless you are one of the lucky few to not need credit or make enough money to live comfortable within your income you are at their mercy and they know it.

Becoming credit free 7 years ago was one of the toughest decisions I have made but now I am glad I did so, especially when I see what my friends are going through with their credit cards and loans.

[Haywood]

I am working toward being debt free other than a mortgage and no more than one car payment, but it is going to take me another couple years to get there.

[DaemonJ]

Originally Posted by Haywood

I am working toward being debt free other than a mortgage and no more than one car payment, but it is going to take me another couple years to get there.

Once I made the decision, it took me almost 2 years before I was debt free but I also do not have a house (had to sell it in the divorce and am now renting until I figure out where I want to stay for a while). The hardest part is training yourself to wait to purchase items until the money is saved up rather than the usual "buy it now and pay for it later" mentality.

Good luck on getting there and know that while the road is rough it is *well* worth it.

[mzpro5]

I also am debt free except for my mortgage which will be paid off within the next 12 months. Car was paid off 2-3 years ago and only has about 51K on it so it will be a while before I get a car.

I realize that being single has helped alot and it allows me more choices than most so if people have to borrow, but do it reasonably I see no problem.

[PaulyT]

I'm debt-free except for mortgage; have only one car and it's paid for, no cc debt carried over for years. I do have a gazillion cc's though, there will be a lot of cancellations if they start trying to stick me with annual fees... hasn't happened yet but I guess I won't hold my breath.