Survived the first week of the new year. Wish I could say that things went smoothly, but hey, that's the nature of the business.
I did pick up a nice glimpse of "the way people live today." I heard it second hand. One of client's told me about her sister-in-law. She feels that the sister-in-law has a problem and wants to get her to come and see me.
It seems that the woman in question is very anxious about several things, one of them is an exaggerated fear about her safety. Therefore, in order not to get mugged, she doesn't carry cash. She uses her credit card for all her purchases.
That wouldn't be a bad thing, maybe she wants to collect the miles, but really, it is a bad thing because her credit isn't very good. Therefore her interest is high, and she makes things worse by often paying the bills late. What makes it even worse is that when she pays the bills late, she goes over her allowed credit line. Then, EACH time she charges something there is an EXTRA $25 charge, on top of the $35 late fee, and the 29% interest charge.
That means that when she goes to get gas, she pays $30 for the gas and a $25 surcharge. Then she goes to buy lunch and pays $12 for lunch, and a $25 surcharge. Then she charges her haircut, or groceries, or bottle of wine. She, or her husband, my client's brother, pays about $1000 a month on surcharges, and has been for the last SIX months! Even a second-grader would figure out that there could be a better way. But it continues; and they both seem to go along with it.
Perhaps she will make an appointment and I will get to understand what is really going one. I'll make sure she pays with cash.
Just another good time here in America.
3 comments:
Maybe you could talk the lady into using a debit card, also known as a check card. I use it all the time, but the only hard part is to remember to balance your checkbook! Because, once you get about ten slips of paper in your wallet, it is agonizing "labor" to enter each one into your checkbook.
The woman in question should meet my husband. With their understanding of how finances work, I´m sure they´ll get along really well.
Cheek aside, I have owned a credit card only once in my life, back when it was needed for a paypal account. Never again. Those things are evil. I wish I could give up paypal too, but these days its almost unavoidable for certain purchases.
I don't get it. How can people function like this? I'm finishing school, in debt from college loans, but I know how the concept of money works!
I'll tell you one thing. Reading about your experiences gives me a new found respect for your profession. There's no way I could deal with these people and keep calm. You would think a two-sentence answer to their problems would suffice! But I suppose people have to feel that they're working things out for themselves.
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