“…you’ll feel like and asshole, that’s normal–it means you’re doing it right”

Via Lifehacker

• Late payments = credit company raises your card’s APR.
• Autopay – For Christ’s sake, wake up, jump into the 21st century and use auto bill pay– avoid the late fees and the ever raising APR that comes along with them.
• Replacment card for no reason = new terms. Sign that card, and call that number to activate the card, and you’ve likely agreed to new terms. Highlight the important parts of your ‘card-member agreement’. For example:
  1. APR, base and maximum
  2. Fees
  3. Billing Period
  4. Due Dates

  – then check out that crap in the new agreement. You can refuse the new terms if you want (Of course they don’t tell you that). End result, you might have to get a new card with decent terms…but it’s better than getting blind-sided with shitty terms.

• Worried to switch cards because of your late payments and your credit rating? How late was your payment? Less than 30 days? Fuck it then…they didn’t report you.
  Payments that are only a few days late aren’t reported (only when over 30, 60, 90, 120 days). Don’t forget tho, late payment = they’re gonna raise your APR. In the meantime grab a free copy of your credit report online and make sure the info is correct.

• Carry a balance–what APR are you paying on each of your credit cards? If you don’t know…you’re screwing yourself. Put another way, why buy gasoline at the expensive station when the cheap one is right across the road? If one card gives you a better rate, use it instead. Don’t pay high fees simply because you were too lazy to look at your latest statment…that’s where your APR is listed by the way…
• Save your statements, in case they screw up…and they probably will- plus you can get it even if their website is down.

1. Submit myself to the ‘do not solicit list’ run by the major credit reporting compaines.
2. Called financial companies I do business with, that are currently sending me ads for services that I don’t currently use, and reuqested that I be put on their ‘do not solicit list’ and also request that they not ‘resell or distribute in any way, my personal information’
3. Called financial compaines that I do not do business with and reuqested that I be put on their ‘do not solicit list’ and also request that they not ‘resell or distribute in any way, my personal information’
4. Wrote and sent a letter to DMA (Direct Mail Association) requesting that I be put on their ‘Do Not Solicit List’ for mail, email, fax, and phone marketing, and that my name not be sold or given to any affiliates or 3rd party companies
5. Called back the compaines I currently do business with and request that all ’statement advertisements’ be removed from my monthly statement mailers.

I’m doing all of this because I’m tired of all the wasted paper, I’m tired of having to fish thru my mail, and I’m tired of being sold out by the people I do business with. There’s too much noise out there, and I’m just trying to get rid of some of it.

Gee, thanks entertainment industry. Way to fuck with anyone who already bought and HD-TV and was simply waiting for content.

• I helped someone get online at Panera (on a PC)
• I helped someone protect thier wireless network (on a linksys/PC)
• I helped someone reboot their wireless base station, and helped them figure out that the password had changed (on a PC)

See a trend there?  I’m just sayin.  It’s amazing PC products aren’t cheaper to offset all the wasted time.

So you’ll just have to wait…