From the monthly archives:

April 2009

The Credit Crunch Hits Home


by mfd on April 29, 2009

Yesterday I got home and checked the mail. One of the bills was a  credit card bill. I open it up just to review it and I found something oddly strange about the statement, it appears that my credit limit had been decreased to $5000 from $7500. The most interesting part was the reason included in the statement:

NOTE: Due to your recent credit history your credit limit has been lowered to $5000

WHAT THE ….

Calling The Credit Card

I call up the credit card company to try and sorted it out since everything appeared in order on my recent credit score review.  I got a very nice gentlemen on the phone:

Credit card Guy “It looks like we reviewed your credit score and what you have with other lenders and it was decided to lower your credit limit”

I rebut with  “I have never been late on ANY bills and have always paid off this credit card in full without ever carrying over a balance”

Credit card guy follows up with “Well they may have also decided that you don’t normally use that much credit so there is no reason to have that much credit”.

I decided to end the conversation with the following “Well I don’t really understand. My credit score was lower when you gave me this limit. My score as gone up since then and now you want to lower my limit. I would like you to note that I’m dissatisfied with this and in future reviews if you decided to raise my limit, don’t”.

What’s The Problem

The interesting part is I never really wanted that much credit when I first applied for the card. I was only going to keep it at $7500 while we did our renovations which were completed 8 months ago. I think I’m annoyed and a little worried that my credit is being called into question. I’ve never ever had problems getting credit or being refused credit. I see this has a sign that things might be getting tougher for me in the future. If lenders begin tightening up on their lending practices I might not have access to funds when I need them or at the very least won’t be getting the best interest rate. Its apparent that repairing my credit score should be higher on my list of priorities.

Have you recently had your credit cut?

-mfd-



Fancy Tax Software - Should You Be Afraid?

April 27, 2009

This year was the first time I ever did my own taxes (it was my fiances actually). She only had a few slips which made it simple enough to enter it into Quick Tax. I still went to an accountant to have mine done because of all the investments. I was also hoping to enter [...]

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A Week in Review: Edition #8

April 26, 2009

This week I did a review of my credit score and what I can do to make it better. I also looked at a goal that I failed miserably and the steps I can take so that I don’t fail it again.
Carnivals
What is Cheap? was in Carnival of Personal Finance over at Mighty Bargain Hunter. [...]

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Failure Is Not An Option - How To Make That Goal Happen!

April 24, 2009

A few weeks back I talked about attempting one of my financial goals. The goal seemed simple enough, keep my discretionary spending to under $100 a month. Well I’m here to say that I failed that goal miserably. I blew through that $100 dollars in less than 10 days and am now on my [...]

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Reviewing My Credit Score

April 22, 2009

A couple of weeks ago I did a credit report and much to my surprise my score went up. This isn’t a big achievement since the previous year my score took a big hit.  I decided I wanted to do a review of my credit history for the last 3 years and determine what caused [...]

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A Week in Review: Edition #7

April 19, 2009

This week I asked the question “What Is Cheap?“. I also started a corresponding thread on Canadian Money Forums to garner some additional opinions on cheapness. Unfortunately this was the only article I wrote this week. It seems birthday week has thrown me off my rhythm but I’ll be working hard to get going again [...]

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What Is Cheap?

April 15, 2009

One of the first posts on this blog was “Frugal Tip - A Big Mac My Way“. The premise was you can pretty much get a Big Mac at half the price. This article had disappeared into obscurity until a reader posted the following comment:
daveking on April 12th, 2009 12:10 am
No offense, but this is [...]

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A Week in Review: Edition #6

April 13, 2009

A bit belated but here is the week in review. By the way Birthday week was a blast :
This week I put a plan into action to accomplish one of my financial goals and I’m contemplating getting rid of my TD GM Visa card.  I also turned 30 this week and came to realize [...]

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Just A Quiet Weekend

April 11, 2009

No posts people. Enjoying the long weekend and finishing the last of my birthday celebrations tonight. See you all tomorrow.
-mfd-

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Tomato vs Condo: The Great Experiement Begins…

April 9, 2009

Growing up my father always had a large garden in the yard. During the summer months it supplied most the herbs and vegetables that we ate. When winter came around my parents would freeze things like tomatoes for sauces. I always took this for granted but now that I’m older I’ve grown to appreciate [...]

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I’m 30: Has The Game Changed?

April 7, 2009

Yes today is my birthday and yes I am now 30.
Are things different? No.
Does something feel different? Yes!
Up to this point I’ve just been watching my expenses and saving/investing without a clear plan. It’s never concerned me before because of where I stood financially in comparison to other people in my age range (see the [...]

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