Monday, July 13, 2009

Good Bye Bank Of America

Some may call it the "Golden Ticket" and others will call it stupidity, but I am happy and relieved to have dropped off my final payments to Bank of America. Now before you get all excited for me, all I did was transfer the balances to another card. The good news is I went from 27% to 3.99% which will save an incredible amount of money. Essentially, I will be paying less than $40 per month in finance charges compared to ever $300. The bad news is this is not my credit card that I transferred it to; it's my mothers and I have 23 months to pay it off.

I'm not worried about paying it off in time. The payments equal what I'm currently paying every month. Any follower of Dave Ramsey knows that you should never lend money to family unless you're prepared to gift it or accept that you won't see it again. I took over a month to accept my mother's offer because of my concern on how it would affect her credit rating and the fine print her bank would put into such an offer. To guarantee that my actions will to adversely affect my mom's good credit, I am giving her an extra payment up front to act as a cushion. I will also roll over the payments I've been making towards my LASIK surgery as soon as that's paid off in October.

It's Harvest Time!

I have been enjoying a fantastic bounty! As you may or may not know, I have been working with my mother on her garden and enjoying part of the bounty. This weekend I picked another 4 cups of raspberries which are set to become jam, lettuce, peppers, snow peas, and the first tomatoes of the season. Through a bit of swapping with the neighbor, I also have some wonderfully sweet yellow cherry tomatoes.

No reason to let excess go to waste. Now is a great time to pickle, freeze, and make preserves for later in the year. Check your local paper for recipes or the local extension office for classes. Better yet, spend some time with an older relative or friend to learn techniques, split the work load, and share to rewards. Do you have a bounty to share? Consider swapping with neighbors or co-workers. (I picked up a big zucchini for zucchini bread from a co-worker.)