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Home > April 15-16 health and moderation & a credit card question

April 15-16 health and moderation & a credit card question

April 17th, 2016 at 02:32 pm

You'll notice I'm allowing some of the forbidden foods back into my diet, such as white-flour products, alcohol and fake meats, but still trying to limit them overall.

April 15:

Breakfast: everything bagel w/hummus (my work's treat), coffee.

Lunch: mock chicken dijon sandwich and salad with broccoli, Brussels sprouts and sunflower seeds (my boss's treat, but I tried to stay good by swapping out chips for salad).

Dinner: spaghetti & veggieballs.

Snack: one delightful glass of red wine.

Extra activity: Walked about 2 miles extra.

April 16:

Breakfast: 1 slice 12-grain toast with peanut butter and a banana.

Lunch: grilled hummus sandwich and tomato soup.

Snack: wheat grass shot, apple-spinach juice.

Dinner: Twice-baked potato and broccoli.

Snacks: popcorn and 1 glass of wine.

Extra activity: walked about 4 miles extra.

Now to my question: A friend I've been trying to help confessed that she's been making charges to a credit card that she'd opened for the purpose of a low-rate balance transfer. The purchases, of course, are subject to the higher interest rate. Frown She's since gotten rid of the card so the spending temptation is gone. Now she has another balance transfer opportunity. She'd like to only transfer the higher-interest portion. The credit card company when she talked to them refused to tell her what portion of the debt was at the higher interest, and they said she couldn't just transfer the higher-interest balance. Both things seem anathema to the Consumer Protection act, but I admit I can't find anything explicit about these two things: whether they're required to tell you what portion of the balance is at a higher rate, and whether balance transfers apply to the higher-interest portion. (I know payments do, but I'm not sure if balance transfers count.)

I'm going to talk to my friend about what led to making this mistake so hopefully we can figure out how to keep her from doing it in the future. But in the meantime, I'd like to help her with this problem.

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “April 15-16 health and moderation & a credit card question”

  1. Jenn Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 03:41 pm 1460904064
    1460904064

    I'm afraid there is language in the fine print of the CC agreement that states that anything you pay against the balance is applied to the LOWEST INTEREST first. She's going to have to transfer the entire amount to a new card (and pay that transaction fee again). I hope I'm wrong but I remember reading something to that effect when I used a 0% interest CC transfer myself.

    Lucky Robin is so right when she calls them the evil empire.

  2. Jenn Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 03:44 pm 1460904292
    1460904292

    Also a tidbit for anyone else who uses the Citi Thank You card for rewards: effective March 31st, they (quietly) stopped offering the Walmart gift card as a reward option. I used to get them because I could spend the card on groceries that I would buy anyway instead of overpriced consumer goods or travel rewards, but that's not possible now. I'll be looking for a new card for a reward program that can better benefit our family.

  3. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 06:09 pm 1460912942
    1460912942

    Jenn, can't you use the points towards your mortgage? I have the Citi Premiere and just got the 50k bonus points - we'll either be using that towards the upcoming mortgage, or the student loan - $500 total. They don't make it easy to find these options - but if you input mortgage or student loan into the search box they should come up.

  4. ceejay74 Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 06:52 pm 1460915559
    1460915559

    The 2009 act requires them to apply payments at least extra payments to highest interest debt first. I just don't know if balance transfers count as payments.

  5. rob62521 Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 07:53 pm 1460919205
    1460919205

    Was that wine truly delightful? Smile

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 08:21 pm 1460920866
    1460920866

    Yes it was! And after two weeks of no alcohol, quite intoxicating. Smile

  7. Jenn Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 09:47 pm 1460926069
    1460926069

    FT, you're correct! I didn't think I had the mortgage option, but upon searching (It is indeed kind of buried.), I found it. Have you used it before? Did your bank (that holds the mortgage) ask any questions about a check written to them that isn't from you? Thank you for mentioning this! Unlike the statement credit or cash back options, this one is worth a buck for 10 points just like the gift cards were.

  8. Frugaltexan75 Says:
    April 17th, 2016 at 11:06 pm 1460930771
    1460930771

    Jenn, no I haven't used it yet. Once I have a mortgage I plan on using it though. Smile I don't know how the bank would react - maybe contact them and ask?

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