29 March 2008

I call it the domino effect.

One thing leads to another, and like the lobster on slow boil, you don't see it coming, really.

Ten years ago today I was busily unpacking in a new house that to me, was THE PLACE.

I'd come to terms with the thought that I was stuck with Crusty. Unable to find proof, I let myself believe I was wrong-who knew that within four months, the truth would be revealed? Piece by piece in a ten years long devastating nightmare of "OK, I got through that revelation" only to have the next, worst bit be revealed. The never-ending nightmare...

Soon, I think, although I am trying to stop it happening, I will lose cable and Internet connection until I can dig out of the financial mess-AGAIN.

This time, it is only my fault in that I got too busy to pay enough attention.

The real fault lies with banking and bill paying methods that have been utilized by banks and creditors to enslave the New Working Poor into bankruptcy so that anything they've managed to accumulate-good credit, comfort items like bed, food, health insurance-are stripped away, because, as my old dear boss at the storage facility said "Poor people can't afford dignity."

Set up auto debit to make sure you don't get shut off, and the bastards will not keep to the agreed upon date to hit your account-they will, it really seems, deliberately hit your account the two days prior. Then they can charge you exorbitant fees untill you are broke, and they shut you off, ruin your credit, and cut you off from the only real communication and access to information that you have. That way you can't rally with others in like situation, and maybe press your government to put the brakes on the movement to regain control of your lives!

Live close enough to the edge, as so many are doing lately, and the next thing you know, you are out nearly two thousand very hard earned dollars of your so-called emergency fund.

And most of it has gone to NSF fees incurred when the cable company and the student loan folks hit the account ahead of time.

Not to mention the debit card that I used almost exclusively because as a woman alone, the last thing I needed to do was have to carry and store a lot of cash. Every single time I swiped that damn card a triple the amount hold was put on my money!

Changes. Again. Swell.

I'm going to gut it out, of course, no choice. But I am pissed about the domino effect.

If this post is dated long before you are reading it, you'll know why. Hope to see you again, hate this happening, again, but while I'm gone, learn from my mistakes, OK?

3 comments:

  1. We felt we really had to leave a comment. It seemed really unfair that the only comment on this post was some freaks comment spam!

    Fox's Mom, check out the local library. There is likely a branch reasonably close, and almost all libraries offer Internet access. Not quite the same as your own machine, but at least you can still keep up with the blogosphere.

    Also, you might want to check out either secured 'credit' cards, or some of the 'credit repair' places. Both are borderline scams (a lot of the credit repair places are over that line, actually) but they might be an alternative to that debit card that is screwing you over. (you might want to check out a different bank, too, but we really don't know enough about your situation to say)

    With a secured card, you 'deposit' money, and then use that card just like a credit card. Never used them ourselves, so we can't tell you all the possible problems, but it might be worth checking.

    With the 'credit repair' places you might be able to get a real credit card for a few (like fifty) dollars, which at least gets you back into the game. The bad news is the one our Food Source used cost two or three times that to get what he needed from them. Tread carefully, but it couldn't hurt to check.

    ReplyDelete
  2. P.S.: Also, to point out the obvious, never let some company take money directly out of your account without a really, really good reason. (and probably not even then) For most companies, you can pay a little late without major penalties. Indeed, for things like the cable company, the problem is getting the service shut off when you decide not to pay for it anymore. :-)

    Good luck.

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  3. We are purring for your finances to improve.
    Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

    ReplyDelete

Regretfully I've had to update my blog to comment moderation to prevent spamming. LOL, if only the fools knew my blog is seen by a very small and select group-it might help them understand the waste of time it is to spam my blog! Oh well, it's not as though spammers are very bright, after all.