Ouch! The economy just bit me …
October 14th 2008 06:43 pm
After reading in the magazine The Week how many Americans will start to feel the pains of the economy, my husband and I were soon bitten. First, one of my creditors lowered my credit limit. Their explanation was that I missed a payment. Well, I did miss a payment—six months ago—when an online transfer didn’t go through due to technical difficulties on their website. As a result, my payment was late, the one and only time this type of thing has ever happened with this particular creditor. Maybe I should mention the creditor in question is Washington Mutual, and they’re not doing too well these days.
The second ouch came when another creditor closed an old account that had a zero balance. Any credit expert will tell you it’s better to keep an account open—even if you never use it—especially when it has a zero balance. Why? That account helps to lower your debt to credit limit ratio, an important factor in determining your credit score. So by closing my account, which was in good standing, that creditor effectively helped lower my credit rating. Are you sensing a pattern here?
Anyway, the third ouch was my husband’s retirement account statement. He expected a loss, but seeing 16 percent of his retirement gone in one quarter still felt like a punch in the stomach. Luckily, he’s not retiring any time soon.
I’m getting nervous. All of these events occurred within four weeks of each other. Recently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stated he may ask the federal government for a loan because California cannot pay its bills. He’s encouraging California residents to buy state bonds, and I’m thinking 1) Why should we? and 2) With what money?
AWW — XoXo
P.S. I forgot to mention that California is on fire again. Sigh.
