FICO Score Tracking #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6| #7 | #8

• Number of accounts opened: 7
• Inquiries: 3
• Total revolving balances: $11,000
• Total available credit: $50,000

Nothing new really. Scores are staying consistent, as I steadily pay off my 0% balance transfer loans. I have only about $11,000 in the loan left, sitting in my ING Direct account earning 4.75% (till April 17). The 0% rate will end around July.

Quick explanation if you don’t want to track back (because it’s a mess to read). The score started to slide around June of 2005 as I started to take on more 0% credit card loans. The all-time low could be seen during November, when I maxed out about three of my credit cards for these loans. The sharp increase during December and January is because I paid off one of them, a $7,800 balance transfer loan.

In about 4-5 months, you will see another sharp increase, bringing my FICO score back to around the 750 ranges as all my 0% balance transfer loans are paid off. When that happens, it’ll be time for more 0% balance transfers!

Mmm… Monday Sunday Carnival.

The 43th Carnival of Personal Finance is up at MyMoneyBlog. After a long time of not submitting anything, I finally submit one.

Once again, on an unrelated note… I woke up today with allergies kicking my arse. My nose now looks like Rudolph’s. I use to get allergies a lot back in high school, but it subsided during my college years. Occasionally it’ll come back in force, and I’ll be miserable for the entire day.

Looks like I gotta pick up some Claritin D or Actifed. Actifed knocks me out though.

Uh, just incase anyone is reading.. I’ve been messing with the template all day long, so yeah. Sorry for the inconvenience. I almost went with a new template, a modified K2 Word Press template.. till all those CSS and PHP stuff hurt my head.

In the mean time, I got rid of more borders & such, because uh, I like white empty spaces?  This is why I have full feeds.. so you don’t have to ever visit the ugly site!

Another good question from a reader (from my pool of 18 readers):

When should you stop helping your kids financially? or conversely, “At what age should an adult stop asking for financial help from their parents?”

That’s a tough one. On one hand, you love them and care for their well being, and on the other hand, your retirement funds are dwindling. In clearer cut situation such as their college funding versus your retirement funding, the obvious choice should be your retirement fund—since students can get student loans, and retirees don’t have that luxury.

My dad helped my sister with the down payment for her condominium, and I’m certain many others out there receive financial help from their parents for their mortgage. In my case, I’m planning to get the mortgage without the financial help. That’s one of my goals, and I believe it’s attainable.

By the time I’ll be contemplating a house, my parents will be past their retirement age. If I can’t afford the mortgage, I’ll continue to rent and save up. Yes, it won’t be easy, but I’m going to do it—regardless if I’ll have to rent for the rest of my life.

There are situations where the parents have enough set aside to help their kids, but at what point should you stop? You certainly wouldn’t want them to rely on you forever, but it’s understandable that people sometime face harsh circumstances.

For me, once I’ve moved out (within a year or two), I don’t plan to include financial help from my parents within my budget. I don’t care how bad it gets, I prefer getting into debt myself than getting them into debt. Of course, the whole point of this blog, all those planning and budgeting—is to avoid that situation all together.

There’s definitely a point where you should stop helping your kids, or you should stop asking your parents for help. But I honestly have no clue when that line should be drawn. Hmm.

Related Post

• How Do You Teach Kids About Money

I don’t mean to put them on the stage, but these are good stuff:

• Elena talks about how she can be aggressive on the phone.
• Shelley vents a bit about how being the family’s computer tech support sucks.

I can definitely relate to both situation. Like Elena’s husband, I have a tough time being more assertive on the phone with customer service rep, so I generally prefer email contacts, phoning only for emergency situations. I can also relate to Shelley’s frustration. I draw the line at extending computer help to my immediate extended family. If you’re my uncle’s cousin’s daughter, you’re out of luck.

No-no? Who cares? Have you ever been paid under the table before?

To be honest I don’t really have an opinion on it, nor any experiences, as I have never been paid under the table before. An acquaintances asked me yesterday if I know of anyone looking for a job.

“Maybe, whats the job?”

“Just some shipping and packing. 10 AM to 7 PM. Legit $10 an hour, or $8 an hour cash.”

“Alrighty, I’ll ask around. Someone’s bound to want some easy work.”

And then I realized that I don’t really have an opinion about being paid under the table, at least—not for a job like that. I understand not being able to report every single income source, but what about being paid under the table for a “real” job? Hmm.

Indiana residents bought flat panel TVs off the street, only to find out they were oven doors.

Investigators in South Bend, Ind., said there has been a rash of oven door thefts recently, and now they know why.

Oh man. When I first read the story, I thought people were crazy (aka stupid). Turns out, there were some level of sophistication involved in the scam. Check out the story over at Wesh.com, and take a look at the slideshow.

I hate doing repost, but yeah this one is too wacky to pass up. Story from the Consumerist.

I got a hit with a $39.00 late fee, for paying my Citi Dividend card late. In today’s multiple-payment option age, paying your bill late is really silly—especially when you have the money. Although it was my fault for paying late, I still don’t like fees. So… what’s the best way to get rid of them?

Just ask!

My prefer method of contacting banks for non-emergency needs is via the Internet. For me, I get better results when I write, since I’ll come off as less of an idiot, and my words can be more neutral.

Contacting Citi Bank’s “Online Customer Care Specialist” is easy enough. Login to your account, look for Help/Contact Us on the far right, select Contact Us, and then click on Send A New Message. Select the message topic and type away.

I typed up a short message, which basically told them the real reason why I paid late (I forgot), how it was my first time ever paying late, and I ended the message with a request for the fee to be waived. The result?

Kudos to Citi’s online customer service for their fast response:

The late fee refund was posted immediately. Woot!

Your results will of course vary. If you frequently pay your credit card late, you can only get these fees waive so many times. The best bet is to ask nicely, give them at least a good reason, and remind them that you’re a loyal customer (or will be one). If you get denied, don’t fret—just chill out and try again by phone. Remember that different customer service representative will yield different results, so you can always try calling a few more times.

Easiest way to avoid all the hassles? Don’t be like me, pay your bills on time!

Related Post:

• How to Get Rid of NSF Fees? Just Ask!