Win/Loss

[WSUCoug1994]

I saw a credit card finance charge on my Mint feed and I totally freaked out.  I haven't paid a credit card finance fee ever.  I did some investigating to find out I transposed my credit card payments - I paid the wrong amount on two credit cards and one was clearly not enough to cover the bill.  I jumped on my banks chat service online and within 10 seconds they wiped the charge out.  I am sure it had to do with all of the stuff happening in the world right now but I couldn't believe how easily they wiped it out.

The loss is major - I somehow forgot to "re-enroll" this year for my FSA and Dependent care.  Man what a bummer.

[NotJen]

Most banks/credit cards will forgive a fee charge pretty easily if it's your first one.  Glad that mistake was an easy correction!

[meghan88]

Yes.  I've had fees waived as well.  The key is to call ASAP and say that you made a mistake.

[Dicey]

They way they calculate interest is absurd. You're going to be hit with interest charges for two months. They will wave them if you're firm, but it's going to take at least one more phone call. Watch your bill like a hawk. /end public service announcement

[Dee_the_third]

Ugh I had that happen once when I forgot to set up autopay on a new card. Physically flinched when I saw the charge, can you imagine that people are literally paying money regularly for the privilege of spending above their means? It blows my mind.

[eyesonthehorizon]

To my (and my SO's) great shame we've let this happen twice in the last six months due to erratic payment dates and personal schedules (we split some pretty uneven expenses - he does a lot more leisure spending than I do - so we can't really automate the payments... but yes, this boils down to "we were careless.") Both times it just staggered me to think that giving away $6 (or often more!) per MONTH on interest is normal!!

To get back to a rolling zero, though, and avoid the second month pinch Dicey mentioned, just pay them off fully two separate times in a statement cycle (knowledge I'm embarrassed to have acquired the way I did, but let my loss be your gain!)

[Dicey]

To my (and my SO's) great shame we've let this happen twice in the last six months due to erratic payment dates and personal schedules (we split some pretty uneven expenses - he does a lot more leisure spending than I do - so we can't really automate the payments... but yes, this boils down to "we were careless.") Both times it just staggered me to think that giving away $6 (or often more!) per MONTH on interest is normal!!

To get back to a rolling zero, though, and avoid the second month pinch Dicey mentioned, just pay them off fully two separate times in a statement cycle (knowledge I'm embarrassed to have acquired the way I did, but let my loss be your gain!)

When now-DH proposed, it was a complete surprise. Then we decided to elope. Then we decided to do it right away, like we got married the day after we decided to elope. It was madness! I completely forgot to make my mortgage payment! It was not on auto pay because my work was 100% commission and I didn't always pay the mortgage from the same account. That was over seven years ago. I hope it has finally fallen off my credit report.

[penguintroopers]

We have a credit card with our longest history, but a second card has better rewards so we primarily use the second card and only have the first one have our spotify subscription to keep it active.

I missed the due date one month. Got hit with $0.34 in interest. My mustachian people problem was that I wanted to call the bank and ask nicely to wave the interest charges, oops missed by three days, blah blah blah... but I just couldn't do it over thirty-four cents. But now I can't say "I've never spent a penny on interest" and "I've never spent more than $1 on interest" just doesn't have the same ring to it. :(

[Car Jack]

I think automating all payments is absolutely the way to go.  Between tradeline sales (thanks MMM) and low balance forgiveness (thanks MMM) and all the bonus promotions and cash back cards plus electric and everything else, I'd go nuts trying to pay 24 credit card bills and everything else manually.  I know in general what I spend.  So long as my checking account has enough in it, I don't have to get all that involved.  I do anyways because, well, I want that low balance forgiveness money and need to keep all those cards with reportable balances each month, so I use a spread sheet for that stuff.

[Michael in ABQ]

I just got hit with a $0.03 rebate on a credit card I don't ever use. I had managed to overpay it slightly 6-9 months ago the last time I had a balance on it. I had a negative $1.94 since then and I finally sent my bank an email to have them transfer that credit to my checking account. Now they counted that as spending money and I earned a $0.03 rebate so I'm back in the same situation. It's really not worth even the one minute it will take to send another email but it just bugs me to see that account at anything but $0.00 - even if it's a credit on the account.

[Dee_the_third]

I just got hit with a $0.03 rebate on a credit card I don't ever use. I had managed to overpay it slightly 6-9 months ago the last time I had a balance on it. I had a negative $1.94 since then and I finally sent my bank an email to have them transfer that credit to my checking account. Now they counted that as spending money and I earned a $0.03 rebate so I'm back in the same situation. It's really not worth even the one minute it will take to send another email but it just bugs me to see that account at anything but $0.00 - even if it's a credit on the account.

I believe that if you close the card, they will send you a check. (we're just gonna sidestep the absurd idea of them sending a check in the mail for 3 cents...nobody wins here except the postal service).

[Dee_the_third]

I think automating all payments is absolutely the way to go.  Between tradeline sales (thanks MMM) and low balance forgiveness (thanks MMM) and all the bonus promotions and cash back cards plus electric and everything else, I'd go nuts trying to pay 24 credit card bills and everything else manually.  I know in general what I spend.  So long as my checking account has enough in it, I don't have to get all that involved.  I do anyways because, well, I want that low balance forgiveness money and need to keep all those cards with reportable balances each month, so I use a spread sheet for that stuff.

So I just looked up low balance forgiveness. Intriguing, I hadn't heard of this before. I assume you have some sort of autobill/autopay setup? What do you use to charge such small amounts on a regular basis? Amazon bumped their minimum to $5 a while back.

[eyesonthehorizon]

When now-DH proposed, it was a complete surprise. Then we decided to elope. Then we decided to do it right away, like we got married the day after we decided to elope. It was madness! I completely forgot to make my mortgage payment! ...

This ... is the best possible reason, I have to say!!

[Dicey]

When now-DH proposed, it was a complete surprise. Then we decided to elope. Then we decided to do it right away, like we got married the day after we decided to elope. It was madness! I completely forgot to make my mortgage payment! ...

This ... is the best possible reason, I have to say!!

Yeah, the bank didn't think so...we sold that property and have purchased five more since then and damn if it doesn't keep popping up. Go away already!