Credit cards and asterisk

I haven’t applied for new credit cards in nearly 3 years. While talking to one of my cousin about my debt, he suggested to apply for a new credit card with 0% APR since I have an excellent credit history. According to him, every penny saved on interest is worth.

After looking around for a few months, I finally found a credit card with 0% APR for 12 month and 12% APR thereof, Citi Platinum Select. I thought I can save on interest if I transfer balance from my 11% APR card, even after transfer fees. I applied and got approved. During my card activation, I wanted to transfer my balance. I was told that my 0% APR is upto 7 months and my interest thereafter 17%. I protested and informed about the offer I saw. The Citi representative informed me that probably there is word “upto 12 months” for balance transfer offer and “as low as 12% APR” on the offer. He continued, if it is not right there, there must be an asterisk.

I don’t demand banks to give me a low APR. They are business and can charge as much as it’s legal. My problem is this type of offer is a deceptive marketing and a bad business practice. Imagine you see an ad for all you can eat buffet* for 10 cents. You go and eat. While getting the bill, you are told that it is all you can eat for first 2 minutes (hence the asterisk), thereafter you are charged $10 a minute. If a person like me who is nearly obsessed with paying their credit card debt is duped, think about all the people Citi bank (and others) is cheating on. Citi and other credit card companies, please start being honest to us. 

Me Debt Roundup - February 2010

I started my journey to pay off my debt more than eight months ago. I paid off merely $4, 313. Getting rid of debt is more difficult than I thought. I took on roommate, virtually stopped eating out, haven't bought anything new or old, sold unnecessary items, got a part time gig. Still I am - 23, 306 in debt. Often, I feel like giving up paying off my debt. How long can I hang on edge like this? Maybe I should accept that I need debt to survive. Yet, some part of me just can't give up. Not giving up on my grad school got me a doctoral degree, while not being able to give up also made me vulnerable during relationship breakup. I hope my "not giving up" nature will help me and let me prevail through these tough times.

3 simple reasons why ipad will fail

Generally, I tend to stay on topic, i.e., my debt and finances. After hearing all this fuss about ipad, I decided to put my 2 cents. I was one of very early adopters of iphone. I got it the second day of its release (and I also own a Mac). Iphone, over time, has cost me around $2500 (plus any incurred interest on my plastic) and yet I still don't consider it among my worst financial decisions. Here are my 3 simple reasons why ipad will fail

1/ No pedestal/stand to keep the monitor at 90 degrees. Do you really think people will hold up 1.5 lb monitor for even 22 minutes to watch a sitcom? Putting ipad on lap will just give you a neck a strain.
2/ It is not a reading device like Kindle or Que. Monitors use light to display the character while e-readers use actual particles to display. The difference is that light strain your eyes but particles do not strain as much. Think about it, books are printed particles on a flat surface. In a nutshell, ipad won’t replace any e-readers. PS., see how e-ink work by displaying a partical depending on polarity of current.
3/ No webcam or USB. Ipad, at best, is glorified netbook (in tablet form) and one of things people use netbook is to video chat and connect different devices/media using USB.

Debt Peonage

I believe that any form of debt makes us a slave. Having a debt means that we need an income to pay installments on those debts. Without a debt all we need is a sustainable income or savings to survive. Without a debt we can take a break from our jobs, without a mortgage we can move our life to a new city. Debt imprisons us in our mediocrity and prevents us from taking risks. Debt seems to help us by not having to put our life on hold until we have money. However, are we holding ourselves back in future by not willing to put our life on hold at present? Some debts, such a student loan (leading to high paying jobs), mortgage (within means), business loan (for well thought out ventures), may bring us more prosperity later. However, until debt is paid off we are slave to our debts. Thus, we should take on to this peonage only after acknowledging its true demands.

Selling off unused items

I decided to follow one of my own advices listed in my earlier post, 7 debtly sins. The advice was not to waste anything, where I defined even not using bought items as a type of wastage. Many unused items in my apartment were collecting dust, while credit cards used for their purchase are collecting interests. As described in earlier post (see Declutter Your Way Out of Debt), I just sold some of my barely used videogames, PS3 and Wii. For mailing them, I used my old first class stamps (37 and 39 cents stamps). After all, I shouldn't waste anything, including old unused stamps.  

PS. Also before buying a box to mail your things, check local stores for free throw-away boxes.