YNAB Personal Budget Software & Finance Forums

[mahnshooth]

So, I have read through most of the book already but have not had the time to follow through on any of the steps until this morning. I called up each of my credit cards, 5 different ones , and ran through the script in Chapter 1. Allthough 3 were stubborn, I was able to get one to drop my APR by 2% and another one by 5%.

I followed the advice of documenting who I talked to so I will be able to reference them in the future. One of the stubborn ones was just taken over by Chase last month and they said they would need 6 months to review my account performance before they could adjust my APR. Probably a bunch of crap, but we will see.

But, lower APR's on 2 cards for 20 minutes worth of work...not too bad.

[BC Aussie]

Hi there

sorry, but what book/script are you referring to??

Thanks in advance

Bruce

PS I think that those of us In Australia (and those who lend the money) have a "here it is, like it or lump it" type of arrangement.

Haggling with banks/CC companies isn't something I've heard much about here.

That said, "card whoring" - don't mean to offend anyone (ie searching for the lowest rate for the life of debt) is almost a sport!

Cheers
Bruce

[mahnshooth]

Hi there

sorry, but what book/script are you referring to??

Thanks in advance

Bruce

It was from Chapter 1 of "I Will Teach You to be Rich."

The script was basically a back and forth on getting the interest rate lowered and not giving up when they reply back with a quick no.
Nothing too complex, but it helped me with what to say because I am horrible at haggling.

[wabango]

i had an interesting experience a few weeks ago. I have debt on 3 cards, one from Amex at 2.99% fixed until balance is payed off, one from Chase at 15% because I let the introductory balance transfer period expire (stupid), and one form Wells Fargo at 12%. the 12% carries my largest debt, but I have been making minimums and focusing on the 15% for the last 3 months, since I finally got a job where I could focus on repayment. On a wonderful weekday off, I called my credit card companies, hoping to lower my rates; couldn't hurt right? Wrong. Neither the 15% nor the 12% lowered, even though I had lowered the 12% to 9.99% for 6 months about 2 years ago thanks to a helpful banker. 2 weeks later, I received a letter from Wells Fargo saying that my rate was going to be raised to 17%, and that if I wanted to keep the 12%, I could put some sort of hold on the card so that it was no longer a "credit card." It would become a loan at 12% that I would have to pay off. If I still wanted the use of the card, I could just do nothing and the new 17% rate would begin in a few weeks. Needless to say I was outraged and called, only to hear that the rate increase is an automated process that is decided by computer weighing many factors. Actually everyone I talked to used almost the same line. Any suggestions.

[gregdo]

If you have your own home and have some equity in it, then another option is to apply for a home equity line of credit. These are usually at the bank's prime rate (e.g. mine is 2.25%). Use the line of credit to pay off the credit cards. Cut up the cards and cancel the accounts. Pay off the line of credit with the now much lower interest rate.