Compare Credit Card Blues

No one wants to admit that their finances are out of control. We have all experienced more money going out than coming in. In 2001, I was working on two grants for the local university. As luck would have it, they both were going to end, one in May and one in July.

I am not good at dealing with uncertainty, so I found another job and switched employers in April. It should have worked out okay, but my boss had not leveled with me about the working conditions, had not told me that he had alienated the entire IT department, or admitted that everyone that worked for him was looking for a job. I lasted six weeks and that is only because I wanted to finish the project on which I was working.

I could not find another full-time job, so I worked temporary jobs and started living on my credit cards. I had excellent credit, so I had $1000s in my line of credit on seven different cards. By October, I was going online to compare credit cards, especially trying to find those 0% credit cards. I would hurriedly complete a credit card application so I could make balance transfers, and switch my debt from one card to another.

I worried about missing a payment, because all the credit cards would start charging the regular rate and not the special offer rate that I had acquired by shopping around. It was a difficult way to live. Finally, I took a loan on my home equity so that I could relax about my debts. Most of my credit cards are now paid off each month. I have learned my lesson, I think!

Tags: credit, transfers, zero interest