With all this mess, and recent credit card whoas, I have anticipated reduced rewards and replaced my credit card already.

Anyway, so yes, I have a replacement card. Plus my tried and true State Farm card. 1% rewards, no fees. As is my CU card, now. I assumed perhaps better customer service at CU. Will see. I like to always have 2 cards. It is not always that we have had cash rewards. I still feel lucky to have 1% back/no fees. Wasn't always a given.

This was all in preparation, of talks of annual fees and evaporating rewards. Though what pushed me to the edge was when my State Farm card really pissed me off when it took forever to remove a fraudulent charge. Chase did the same, but the $1 charge wasn't worth losing $750 in annual rewards. But the writing has been on the wall as far as rewards.

Anyway, this is why I stay tuned in to the financial community. Heads up like this (read comments):

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2009/10/chase-freedom-cr...

Talk that Chase no longer offers $250 redemptions for $200 in points. (Phew, I JUST redeemed my $250 last month. I was nervous I might not be able to).

Someone mentioned they now charge an annual fee, but that you can call a number to decline this "upgrade." (ETA: Oh yeah, to decline any credit card changes usually means you agree to cancel the card. Be careful with this option if you need the credit line!!!)

Interestingly, I never got any such notice. I wondered if I missed an e-mail or online notice, so I perused my online account. No notices. Nothing. I can still redeem $250. I read all my online disclosures and they were unchanged.

I will keep an eye on it. But either they let me retain my original benefits, or I am closing the account.

Part of me wonders if they profile their customers a bit and realize this, and that is why they let me be. My gut says I will be getting a notice in the mail any day though. They have a lot of customers.

Glad I am prepared.

My effective interest rate on purchases has been about 3%. It will settle to 1.5%-ish if I can no longer wait to $200 to redeem $250. I guess it depends on the annual fee and how it compared to the rewards we claim above 1%. If we still come out ahead, it will be worth keeping.

I've never had a problem closing cards and retaining a high credit score. But I usually keep my cards for a long time. These days, I have only had the Chase card like 3 years? If that? I do worry a bit about short term credit hit. Not that much, but a little. (Compounded by my credit card arbitrage last year - I had opened and closed 2 cards). This is another reason why I am glad to switch to a CU card. I assume I will have it for a long while! I believe my State Farm card is 6 years, and I may revert to using that one more too. I was thinking of canceling it just last year. When they pissed me off. Maybe it will be good to hold on. Maybe using it more will be a good thing to - so they don't just cancel it. (For now it's a "backup card" that I never use).

In the past I always hated closing cards I Was intent on closing, because they would BEG you to stay. Funny enough, no begging in the year 2008! OR 2009! I closed quite a few cards. I am kind of curious if they will have any interest in keeping me as a customer. If I can haggle at all, for better rewards. (Pre-2008, I certainly could). But, I can't say I won't delight in no longer giving Chase my business, either. It's been kind of "too good to pass up." Making 3% on all my purchases??? Better than my savings accounts. But as that era passes, I am happy to drop them like a hot potato. & I will take delight in it.

ETA: They are converting to plan vanilla 1% cash back. I just read the clarification. Not worth any fees, when I already get that everywhere else.

Okay, I decided to close my WAMU card TODAY, so on a whim I checked one last time to see if my February FICO score had posted. I didn't expect it but figured I would check. I was closing the card because free FICO no longer offered as of March or something, but since that announcement they seem to have stopped updating the free FICO. It usually updates monthly.

I just posted I was particularly bummed because I closed a card around Jan. 1 and I was curious how this closure would affect my FICO in the short term. I knew from past experience it wouldn't amount to a hill of beans in the long run.

So imagine my surprise today to not only see my FICO score, but to see post card closure (the big no no of the FICO world!) that my score had shot up 30 points, to 825.

Um, yeah.

In fact, paying off all my balance transfers had about the same effect. My score shot up 30 points then too.

But besides that, nothing has affected my score much the last 18 months.

Quite clearly the card closure did it. I only closed about $10k of credit. My credit reports all show $20k available credit now. Will be $14k when I close this other (balance transfer) card. So it's not like I have TONS of available credit or anything. But on average we only utilize about $2k/month.

The only other thing of note is my new mortgage.

But no matter what all the gory details are, clearly I am no worse for the ware in the short term, for closing an unused credit card.

For the long run I know it doesn't matter. I always close my old credit cards (oldest one - 3 years old?) and I have pretty much always had a FICO over 800.

I always figured that whole thing was blown out of proportion, but now I know for sure it's just a myth.

Caveat: In certain circumstances it is certainly better to keep old cards open.

BUT if you have a decent credit score and you think the world will end because you close an old card, eh, get over it. That's what I say!

& I have to tell you, I was shocked to see that giant blip upwards as I was expecting one in the opposite direction.

If nothing else, just to re-iterate, no one fully understands FICO.

Simple common sense has worked for me.

Caveat: Though none of my current credit (credit card or mortgage) I have more than 5 years, I do have 15 years of credit history. I have a mortgage and 2 credit cards. My score has been in the 800s since around 2000. If you are in a similar situation don't let the credit industry bully you into keeping open unused credit cards. Trust me, they are often more problem than they are worth with the rise of ID theft and such.

I was jolted back to reality this week rather quickly.

Foreclosure 2 doors down. Asking insanely low price of $240k (for smallest home). I don't mind. Last foreclosure so close asked $300k a bit ago and sold FAST. As long as it sells fast I am happy. We don't need a row of forelcosed homes on the street. Some in the greater neighborhood have been sitting empty for YEARS. I am curious which banks own those and which ones are acting so fast. Kudos to the banks owning near MY house!

So, we'll see.

$240k is just about prices when we bought. Still $10k higher. Still have equity equity. YEah, not for long!

Also, lay offs seem to be contagious around here all of a sudden.

I don't know how it is in other regions, but Cali has been hit HARD this decade. Most of our friends and family had lay offs in 2002 with the tech bust. MANY of them had lay offs again in 2005. & of course the same people are being laid off again now (a lot of lay offs last week I guess). I mentioned before the housing bubble was not ALL about greed. I know a lot of people used their equity to get by layoff after layoff. Not sure what there plan of actions is this time. It is scary when it comes to the foreclosures. It's BAD but everyone laid off can only make it worse. Since the people who can afford their mortgages won't be able to if they are out of work for a long time.

It's pretty scary out there. Just wondering if our slice of suburbia will become a foreclosure wasteland...

---------------------------------

P.S. I am closing all my old credit cards and my FICO will still be over 800. How do I know? Because I always close my old credit cards (My oldest card I have only had about 3 years though I have used cards for 15+ years) and my score is just about always over 800. & if it dips down to like 790, well, I could care less. This whole fear of FICO strikes me as completely ridiculous most of the time. Fair enough if you are working on improving a low score. BUT if your score is already 780 or 800, I think you have way more important things to worry about!

What do I know? My score has mostly been 800+ for my entire adulthood.

I did obliterate my score a bit (down to 750, which is the same as 830 to most lenders BTW). Anyway, with all the balance transfers. & then I paid them off, closed the cards, and my score went right back up (to 805 as of Jan. 1).

I am not too worried about it. !

Anyway, if I read one more article or comment how I shouldn't close my old cards. Egads!!!!!

Hey, I treated myself to something yesterday. I felt a little guilty since it is such a bad month but I honestly can't remember the last time I bought myself something. At least a few months.

So for $20 (50% off retail, which I would never pay by the way) I got the cutest monkey robe.

This is not it, but close.

It's so funny because my favorite color is black. I remember my mom thought I was going through some goth phase as a teen and figured I would grow out of it. She is disappointed I never did. I have always hated pastels and the color pink.

BUT, now that I live with 3 boys, I think the testosterone is too much. I think it is getting to me. For whatever reason I *almost* bought a pink sleeping bag this summer. I was like, "Where did that come from?" I actually really liked it.

So yesterday I saw the monkey robe and couldn't resist. I think almost liked it in pink.

Anyway, I spent $100 with that but got a few things I REALLY needed for work. Pants and bras which are impossible to find. I still need to hit the thrift shop for a couple of other things. I didn't expect to find my brand of pants there, but they were, and I don't think I will need them hemmed. Phew. Usually pants are too small or to long, and I feel so average. What is there for us average folk?

So yeah, it wasn't the best time to drop $100 but I don't think I have really bought any work clothes this year. It was time. My pants are really comfortable (2 pair that I mostly wear) but they are fading. *sigh* I figured I could drop $40 on some new pants.

Oh yeah, that was my free $10 Kohls run. Couldn't find the free underwear I planned. But I have been looking everywhere for those pants. I didn't remember seeing them at Kohls before. So I was rather relieved to see them.

-------------------------------------

Anyway, I am considering doing another 0%balance transfer.

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2008/08/5-apy-12-month-c...

If I could get 5%, would be worth it.

When I originally took on 3 balance transfers last year, I expected to do it just temporarily until all of them expired. We were trying to bulk up our emergency fund and had much making up to do.

Anyway, I expected to be in much better straits now, but with how everything has been going this month, I figure we could use an extra $500 or so over the next year. So I am thinking about it again.

----------------------------------

Reminds me, dh got another deal of a game system and like 14 games, for $50. So things are looking up. He expects to make $150-$300 on everything. His last ebay batch sold about double what he expected, and his current one already has some higher bids than he expected (with 3 days left?)

I tell you, it's a fickle business. He had a few that didn't sell so well, and lately we are on fire. I don't know if we are attracting more buyers as we are becoming more serious sellers. Considering I have my 15 feedbacks as a seller, I wouldn't think it mattered. But the first couple of batches didn't necessarily sell as much as he expected, and for whatever reason now they are selling way better than expected.

Plus last time we sold 6 items to 3 people. People tend to buy games in bulk so it REALLY makes it easy on the shipping side.

He has been doing priority shipping which few sellers do. Maybe that's our edge. I just don't know!

Maybe next round will suck. But for now we are on a good streak. I feel like our luck is turning around.

--------------------------------

Reminds me, the focus group company called me for a 1 hour gig for $80. That is the best rate they have ever offered us. It's usually like $40/hour.

I didn't qualify but I am on the backup list. Crossing my fingers someone flakes out.

My old credit card company (I keep the card for backup) called to ask me about suspicious activity. A $150 foreign purchase in early July.

I said it was most definitely fraudulent, and they sent me new cards. They told me it was all taken care of.

So I get a bill in the mail last week. UGH! I just hate dealing with this stuff.

So I luckily kept the fraud department direct line and called them back.

"We couldn't discharge the debt because it hadn't been cleared yet."

Something along those lines.

Whatevah!

Then maybe you should have told me as much instead of telling me I didn't need to do anything further and that it was all taken care of.

So I get this form in the mail yesterday. I have to return it today to clear it up.

Seriously?

I am this close to shutting down the card. I am sure I could fight my way through it, even if I didn't receive it until tomorrow or something, but they just piss me off. It has to be so freaking complicated.

I will fax it when I get to work and mail a copy to be sure. Take that!

-------------------------------------

I checked my credit score and a good month after paying off another card, my score is only up 8 points. Borrowing oodles of money and having a terrible ratio for like a year has apparently done little to my score. I show score of 770 with one Bureau and 795 with another one.

As such, with the way things have been going, would I do another 0% balance transfer?

YOU BET!

It was easy easy easy money. I was a little wary at the time, but a good 18 months or so later, I would say it has really paid off.

So why haven't I run out and applied???

Because I was earning mostly 4% - 6% interest on all my balance transfers. I can't say where I will find that.

It could be tempting to take out a Countrywide CD or something like that, but I don't want to mess with FDIC and all that on something I don't have cash in the bank to cover otherwise.

I think I will sit on the sidelines and close all of these cards now that we are done.

I will keep the WAMU one because they keep sending me new cards and I still get free FICO scores (it is well over a year). I just assume my "year" resets with each new card. I haven't activated any of them, but I can get my FICO score monthly. IT's kind of nice.

But will close the other ones and I may jump back in the game if I can find favorable interest rates.

If interest rates improve I may apply for a new card in the interim. Citi had a lot of good deals, I don't know if they still exist. But I paid no fees and 0% interest for the transfers. I think I paid a $75 fee for WAMU. Was still worth it.

Tomorrow I have TWO dates. Woohoo!

I am meeting a friend for lunch.

Dh and I have been trying to schedule a date for a very small comedy tour. Final weekend this weekend. We keep forgetting things (like we were planning last Friday but didn't put 2 and 2 together he was going to be out of town - doh).

So today we went for a walk in the evening and on the way home I remembered. I said - "Isn't tomorrow our date night?" Dh said, "Indian food and everything???" He is so excited. Going to our favorite fancy restaurant (don't remember the last time) and then to the play. Almost forgot... We'll see if I remember.

Ugh. Just so busy busy busy. But that is one thing we just need to do, or else before you know it June is over, and no date!

------------

Dh has been busy selling Wiis. His profit thus far (gas considered) is around $200. Unfortunately, it's not all cash. A lot of it is just more stuff.

But he's a happy camper.

For this month I am using it to pay the satellite and whatnot. Mostly will be double billed this month as we change things over. Canceling the cable tomorrow, and hoping for a pro-rated bill.

But satellite charged 2 months up front.

ATT charged $50 for the modem.

So I figure we'll cover all this.

I know it will straighten out in the next couple of months - no satellite or cable bill next month. But it is driving me nuts. My budget and set up is "just so" and I don't like it when things rock the boat. I have plenty of cash, but I just don't want to mess with the SYSTEM! Likewise, dh took $400 cash from checking to buy and sell crap. He was all ready to put back $500 yesterday, but he went and bought another Wii. So he is driving me nuts too.

With the stimulus check I may just give him seed money. Problem with that is if I am not a nazi over the money, it tends to disappear. For now he knows I need that $400 back to pay the bills 6/30. I think it's good for him to have a deadline and a dollar amount over his head. Or else before I know it our house is going to be filled with more video game systems and games, in trade. It's already started...

On the flip side, dh is happy as a lamb, and less pressure on me.

For now it's putting pressure off of me, and helping the weird June budget a bit. For the long term we need a real system. x% of profits go to retirement or something. He wants more electronic crap (his big sacrifice of late). I want more retirement savings (my big sacrifice of late). Whenever we talk we are on the same page, but yesterday he told me he was tempted to keep one Wii. So I have to keep a sharp eye on that boy.

I admit he enjoys the freedom of making his own money, and I don't fault him for that. (I admit I am a bit of a control freak too). But since 100% of my income goes to the household, I do have issue with extras going to benefit just him. But this is always a bone of contention with us. I don't want a lot of "stuff" so I can live without, and he struggles more with it.

We'll find a compromise. I think it will mean more in future months when things settle down and the big one is out of preschool. For now I have vacation bills, medical bills, birthdays and camping coming up. Our date will be a bit of a splurge. For now it's just going to the household and us. But August - November is a pretty slow spend time of year for us, so if he can sell some more during that time I really do hope to plump the savings more.

We've also been talking about donating a little more to charity. So, we'll see.

Dh did wedding videos to buy his fancy video camera way back when and has done a lot of editing work to pay for his editing system. It seems fitting he would buy and sell Wiis in order to buy a Wii. This is why I usually have little complaint about his electronic haven. What percentage of our working income pays for this stuff? Not much. IT comes from the gravy. BUT sometimes I do admit I wish he had the same passion for our retirement fund. LOL. He's a saver, but since we have had kids, it's the electronics that motivate him way more. I guess in a sense he is retired. So what does he care?

-------------

Ugh. Changing over my e-mail is turning into a week-long project.

I got most of it done, but told dh he could call and cancel the cable tomorrow.

My old e-mail does not work on the "send" anymore anyway. very frustrating.

I think I seriously need to keep a log of where I keep e-mails. For future changes. I am sure I forgot much. I feel like I changed it with 50 businesses/organizations.

Anyway, to top it off, I saw today yahoo rolled out "ymail." I didn't see it until late in the day, but I was able to come up with a much more acceptable "professional" e-mail close to my name. So though I had already e-mailed all my family and friends, I change it again on them. Yup.

I'll have to go back to all the financial institutions eventually too.

Just tired of it all for now. Whatevah!

My work mentioned the other day changing our e-mails to fight the spam - just so out of control. I don't think I could take it. I need one stable e-mail address!

Though the idea of a spamless ymail sounds pretty divine about now. I guess I could get used to it for a while.

-----------

I actually cooked dinner tonight. Sloppy joes and corn on the cob with onion/butter rub. YUMMY! Corn is just not something we usually have, but I have been bugging dh. HE said the corn (husked) was about $4 for the 4 of us. I told him we need corn once a week from now on. I am not a big veggie person, but corn on the cob is just the best. When I like veggies, I must partake in them more. Maybe once every other week...

I think our grocery bill will seriously be under $300 this month. Don't ask me how...

It's $150 to date. We're all eating out tomorrow. Going to a party Sunday to eat. We're going camping for a few days. I doubt we will even hit $300, since will probably only hit the store once or twice more before July.

I feel less bad for buying so much food at that Tastefully Simple party. It hasn't arrived yet, but will probably lower the july grocery bill a bit since I did get so much food.

It's just bizarro.

Our gas bill, on the other hand, will be insane. Dh drove 80 miles today, round trip, to pick up a Wii. We're driving to Yosemite in a few days. San Jose? Twice.

But dh's parents already gave him $100 for gas and since we paid for my dad's entire camping trip, he decided to ride up with us and pay our gas. We will have to take the van, but will probably be nice to have it.

So it's been a good month overall, financially. Though everything is topsy turvy. Funny how it all works out...

I told dh if he could keep up that kind of grocery bill every month, he could spend the difference on whatever his heart desires. LOL. I said he deserved a gold star.

I think it is just the kind of thing where sometimes we really stock up on stuff on sale, and other months means less to buy. But I think this month will be a record low for us.

We haven't been eating out either, so it's just weird.

I do admit LM has had little appetite lately. Since he can usually eat like a grown man, could be much of it.

Then again, BM tried to eat us out of house and home today (1.5 ears of corn, 2 servings of sloppy joes, and a sandwhich and some fruit and pickles. Dinner. EGADS!) He was sick Tuesday so we just figured he was catching up.

Then again, I think last Thursday they told me he had 6 servings of lunch at preschool. Seriously.

Since the food is included, we should get our money's worth at camp. Between him and my dad. & dh really. Yeesh. My stomach is small so buffets are wasted on me. But the boys in the family will get their money's worth...

----------------

Dh made some kind of meat-stuffed zucchini last night. IT wasn't horrid. I could force down half of one.

His mom makes this lasagna that I believe is zucchini, in place of pasta. I can't stand the stuff, though most people like it. So I was very skeptical. But I tried it and it wasn't so bad.

I think Saturday we are having a greek dinner (new recipes form our Best of Home magazine).

I feel quite spoiled on the food front. Well except for that zucchini. LOL.

We had chicken soup and dumplings the other day.

But yes, Indian Food, Greek, and BBQ. Oh, what a divine weekend...

& how could I forget? Japanese buffet for lunch. Got my coupon. Hadn't been in a while...

---------

My stimulus is to be mailed by tomorrow.

I am betting on Monday. In the mail box Monday...

We'll see.

Timing is good because I am paying off a $4k balance transfer 6/30. That stimulus check will replace half of it, so I shouldn't take such an interest hit.

I still have my big momma transfer with the awesome CD rate until December or so... So I should get that interest boost through the end of the year. Of course it would be nice to keep it, but now that we feel more on track financially, it will be less needed to going forward. Phew.

The balance transfers were a tad outside of my comfort zone. But at this point I could say that was the easiest money I have made in the last couple of years. I am glad I reached outside my comfort zone...

Didn't even really ding my FICO like I expected. All I learned is there is no apparent rhyme or reason to FICO. It has bounced around between 700 and 770 the whole time I had the transfers. I haven't found a pattern. Last month I had the highest balance and worst utilization and my score was 730. The month before it was 701 and I have no idea why. But 6 months in between it was mostly up to 750-760. Eh. So you know, obviously something really dinged my score that one month. I have no idea what. I was dreading the following month with my $1500 vacation expenses on our regular card, in addition to all the rest and usual, and then my score went up 30 points that month.

So, yeah, I have always said that if you have a good score you don't have to freak out about every little thing. I will now go as far as to say I wouldn't even worry about a balance transfer. (or many transfers).

Logically my score should jump up with these balance transfers paid off. I am just not holding my breath. IT doesn't really matter anyway...

But yeah - I expect to replace the $4k by the end of the year (money saved).

The $10k (big momma) will be a while to replace in savings, but in the next year or 2 I expect to have that much in the bank without the transfers. Maybe interest rates will improve a bit. They have been pretty in the toilet for the last decade though... But certain years have been better. For the long run I want to grow much of our savings with interest.

2008 $20 challenge:

$2,346.00 - 5/1

$ 100.00 - ROTH Contributions - June
84.00 - May Interest
------------------
$2,530.00 - Balance 6/1
------------------

This was my last big interest month, for a while anyway, as I pay back a $4k Balance Transfer this month.

Then again, it's not such a big deal. I should have a few thousand in the short-term fund around October - December. I also should received $2k from IRS (straight to savings) in a couple of weeks.

I also am saving much more come July.

So I figure that balance transfer will be easy to make up, soon enough. For the long run that was kind of the plan. Take the balance transfers while my cash was low. Eventually save up the cash to earn the same interest on my own.

Then again I still have a $10k balance transfer earning 5.7%. That will be a little harder to replace (the interest rate more than anything).

But, getting there...

2008 $20 challenge:

$ 675.00 - 3/20

$ 100.00 - March Interest
$ -130.00 - From Medical Fund
------------------
$ 645.00 - Balance 4/1
------------------

I moved backwards on my challenge money.

Has anyone else ever subtracted money before?

What happened was I was confident in paying $150 or so of medical bills out of the budget. We had some extra money last month - so I put it to the challenge and paid the medical bills, leaving our medical fund intact.

However, dh and I bought show tickets on a whim. For next weekend. It was pretty spontaneous for us.

Anyway, the tickets came to about $130, and when I worked the April budget we were around $100 short. (Paying the march credit card - was a little more than I had expected). I started to worry maybe we shouldn't have made this purchase - maybe I had been too optimistic. Then I remembered we also had a lot of medical bills in March. So I subtracted $130 from the medical fund (for 2 doctor visits), and into my checking account. Worked pretty well.

Oh well, it was nice to think that extra money would go to our savings. But it is nice to splurge once in a while too.

We did earn $100 interest for March. This is the last month, for a while, that I expect three-figure interest.

We paid off dh's balance transfer very early in March (around the 10th?) so his $10k was not deposited very long. But we did get some decent interest on that I am sure, in March.

Still have the 5.7% CD which accounts for about half of our interest.

I still have $15k in balance transfers.

We have the CD, some online savings, and also some money market funds. The savings and MM - rates all went down.

& I already added our ROTH contributions to the challenge.

So that's all I have. A decrease...

I have to pay off the $5k balance transfer in a couple of months. That one is coming up fast too (was like a year???).

The other one is in the CD and that one is good as gold. It kind of replaces dh's $10k, though the 2 overlapped for a short time.

That one is due end of year (around when my awesome rate expires). So I am glad to have another good interest year - REALLY helps the savings. I added the $100 interest to our mid-term fund. Getting awfully close to $500. (Though I expect to add about $3k in the summer months with my bonus and with IRS rebates, etc.). But I am relying heavily on the interest to get to my goal of $5k by 12/31.

The weather has been gorgeous and the trees are starting to bloom.



Makes me VERY happy. Did I mention I Was so over winter???

I can't believe Easter is in 4 weeks!!! It's always a fun family event. We don't host but it is in OUR city which makes it nice. & I have 2 new baby nieces to enjoy this year.

Dh spent a lot of money this week. He has been a bit depressed. I think I see a pattern. Depressed = spending. Just more crap for the kids. Like the NEED more crap. Ugh, I have to update my list big time.

I had an epithany when it comes to our medical insurance situation. I had totally forgotten that our deductible was $1500 per person. So even if we do get an insane/over blown bill, it will be $1500 max. It's $1500 per person, but $3k for the family. Which is much more reasonable. I had just forgotten about that part. As long as we have a boring week, I'll have a good $1k for the medical bill by march. Going to try to deposit an extra $250 since February is a short month. Our expenses have been low this month. We'll see. No medical bill yet. Buys me time.

Well, my first balance transfer is due back next month. It's due in April, so I am paying it back in March with the March payment. It's the shortest one. IT was 9 months. So at about $50/month interest, we will have earned $400. That was EASY money. This one was in dh's name. We'll pay it back and just have him close the card.

IT leaves 2 outstanding in my name. One I just started and will replace dh's money in our 5.7% CD.

I have a few thousand due back in June/July. It's with WAMU though and they send me my FICO score every month. As long as I get my FICO for "free," I am going to keep the card open. But the other one is due come December and I will close it when I am done.

HAving a good score, we always close old cards. I Don't care how old they are or how big the limits. IT has never made a noticeable difference to our scores. I mean it may have dropped from 800 to 780 or something, when I did close my oldest card because they started charging an annual fee. I think we'll survive. IF nothing else I don't like having old cards opened, rife for theft. Or unnoticed fees. Likewise, since they are old cards I Don't use or pay attention too, I am likely to not notice if there was some weird activity or fees, etc. That makes me nervous. I have always just closed all my cards, but kept open one extra one for backup.

Likewise, though it was easy money, I think we'll take a break from the balance transfer game. IT was very helpful to our emergency fund and all that. But it was a lot of juggling with the 3 cards, and I think it will be nice to give our credit scores a break for a while. Well, dh's score will get a break. My 0% is still good for another year. We'll see how I feel in a year I guess. I admit it was easy money and it will be tempting to keep playing the game...

I thought I remembered this 8-month CD being renewable at 5.7% (if that rate would be preferable in 8 months).

Anyway, then they sent me paperwork and didn't mention this option to renew at 5.7%. This was really key to making my balance transfers REALLY worthwhile. My hedge if rates went down.

Anyway, I pulled out the original paperwork and didn't see anything. I could not beleieve I did not get that in WRITING!!! I started to wonder if I Was crazy.

Anyway, so I just realized my CD matures Monday and I better call. The option now is 3.2 or something for CDs. (non-promotional anyway).

So I Called and inquired and they said yes, I Was right. In fact, I didn't even have to call, it was set to renew at that rate Monday. Woohoo!

I am quite happy with this. I am not crazy after all. & yes next time I Will get it in writing, just in case.

Everything financially seems to be going my way this week. I am enjoying!

(I guess this could be a bit of a neener neener neener post too. LOL. Earning 5.7% for another 8 months on money that is not even mine!).