iWillBeDebtFree.net

It is a few days past the one year anniversary of the iWillBeDeptFree.net blog and I decided to tally up my credit card dept and check the progress after 12 months.

I am very disappointed. After checking the numbers, I now have $15,773.94, which is only $479.69 less than the $16,253.63 that I had on May 12, 2009.

This is where I stand on May 17, 2010

Chase Visa $2,230.31
Discover Card $8,832.22
Bank of America $4,711.41

Total: $15,773.94

And there is what I had on May 12, 2009

Discover Card: $7,235.97
Bank of America American Express: $4,736.97
SST Visa (formerly Sharebuilder Visa): $1,230.15
Chase Visa: $3,050.54

Total: $16,253.63

The bad news is I added $1,596.25 to my Discover Card account. This is a high-interest account. I am paying out 27% interest to this company. I need to review and see how this money was spent. I recall using this account to pay off my cell phone and cable company bills. I will analyze my account and detail my mistake in another post .

Read more…

After yesterday’s bad experience with Chase Visa, I was hoping my luck would change with Discover Card.

Unfortunately Discover also declined my polite request to reduce the 20.24% APR that they are currently charging me.

I spoke to Sharon, who said she was working in Phoenix. I explained to her that I have never missed a monthly payment in at least three years and that I needed help to lower my monthly expenses.

She told me that she was not authorized to help me, but she would send an application letter that I could fill out and mail back to Discover. (Hard to believe that in this the era of the Internet, there are still companies like Discover Card that want customers to use the US Postal Service! Why can’t Discover make it easier and set up an online form?)

I accepted her offer of the letter and asked if I could speak to her supervisor or someone who could lower my APR today. She then told me that when she submitted my account through their system and it told her that my APR could not be lowered. At least she was being honest. Now I have to wait for Discover’s letter. I have a feeling that even after I mail in my request for an APR reduction that I will have to continue to pay the 20.24%.

At least Discover’s APR isn’t as high as the 27.24% that Chase Visa charges, but it is still very high. There are not many investments today that provide a 20 percent return.

One part of the Discover that bothers me is the DiscoverCard.com website does not post the APR. It seems like the only way for a customer to get their APR is to either read it on their monthly statement or call up DiscoverCard customer serve. At least Chase Visa posts the APR online.