Credit

Is great to have, but not if you need it. I think responsible stewardship means reducing one's debt as much as possible. Also, I'm cheap -- it just kills me that, to pay for something with a credit card (especially to do it "on time," by making monthly payments) ultimately results in spending much, much more than the item is worth. This hit hard when I was in CR -- I couldn't even pay for a hotel room with a credit card. OK, I could have, but they charge a 13.5% fee for using a credit card. When you think about it, it's less than the 18+% hotel tax they charge in the US, but since I had the cash in CR, I just paid cash.

So on that trip, crappy Spirit airlines was having some sort of promotional where you get a card, make a purchase, and then get 15,000 free points, enough for 3 free trips on Spirit. So I applied because I like free stuff.

Got the card today. It's offered through BankAmerica. Because I already have one card with BankAmerica, they basically didn't extend me any new credit, just reduced the credit line on the existing card and gave it to me on the new card. Since the credit line is sufficient, and the balance, even with the reduction, is less than 25% of the available credit, it shouldn't significantly impact my credit score. But the new card has a higher interest rate.

So I called to activate the card. And they're asking me how I like it, blah, blah, blah. I tell them about Spirit losing my bag and I tell them how much it sucks that they reduced my credit limit on a lower rate card and gave me the credit on a higher rate card.

So they lowered my interest rate to 2.99%. Yeah, it's only on purchases for a couple of months and on balances until the end of the year, but that's long enough for me to charge and pay for my gym membership. Which means I can pay for my membership at less than 3% interest. Not bad.

Of course, they're sending me a rewards card, which will likely have a higher interest rate than the card I have, but since I no longer use my B of A card, it's not a tremendously big deal. I understand the credit card companies are attempting to make money by raising interest rates and fees, but in my case, they're losing money. I am making slow but steady headway into paying off my credit card debt, thanks be to God.

But yeah. The credit card company lowered my interest rate For a minute. Yay them. For a minute.