It’s been 7 years since I signed my mortgage.  Although I remember it like it was yesterday, it still seems like a lifetime ago.  In some ways it is.  My life now looks nothing like my life did at that point.  One of the many things that has changed is the interest rate available for new mortgages.

When I signed back in 2003, I opted for a mortgage that included cashback.  Meaning, in addition to the mortgage, they also provided us with “bonus” money that we used to buy appliances, or something else useful (I hope).  That option was great, but it also meant having a slightly higher interest rate than had we not gone for the cashback.  The final rate ended up being 7%.

Over the last few years the rates have tanked considerably.  They can’t stay this low forever, and someday people are going to be in for a rude awakening, but in the meantime, we enjoy them while we can.  I signed an early renewal at a rate of 2.3% this morning, opting for a short term mortgage because the house should be on the market before the year is out.  Better to save a little money on the monthly payment now, than continue to overpay until the current mortgage came up for renewal.

One less thing to worry about.

Hmm… remember when I said ages ago that I dumped my Sirius stock (SIRI) and was happy just to break even with it?  Well, I glanced at my faux-portfolio and noticed that it’s now trading above $1.  Yup, I could have easily doubled my investment had I just stuck it out and not wanted to get rid of it so badly.  It’s really a shame too… I was pretty excited when I purchase those shares, and really thought that it was going to amount to something. 

Oh well, Life happens.  It’s only money, right? 

I was checking my voicemails on Friday, and there was one from a nice-sounding lady from CCS.  She said that her name was Josee, and that the comments on my exit interview from a few weeks ago had gotten some notice… and that they wanted to offer me something.

Really?  Cool.  Maybe it was a prepaid credit card!   A new car!    The keys to the vault!  I had to find out, so I called her back…

She told me that CCS President and CEO John Eisner read the comments that I wrote on my exit interview form, and thought that they were great.  Apparently they select a Client of the Year, and ask that person to come in and tell their story…  They were so impressed with mine that they were offering me the honour of Client of the Year.

Well, it wasn’t a car, but it was still nice to be noticed.  I’ve been a big fan of CCS ever since I managed to get over my pride and realized that I wasn’t going to dig myself out of debt based solely on my good looks and charm.  There just wasn’t enough of that to go around!  I can’t stress enough how helpful they were, and how I wish that I had gone to them sooner.  I even wrote a university paper on my experiences (got an ‘A’), and was asked to present that paper to my class.  I hope that anyone in debt trouble considers going to them, because I know first-hand how much better my life (and credit rating) is because of their program.

So it all sounded great.  Go in, tell my story, and walk out with a feeling of accomplishment.

“Oh, and just so you know” Josee continued, “we videotape the interview, and show it at our annual gathering, so everyone in the organization can see an example of how their work benefits our clients”

Ummmm… videotape?

Even over the phone, I’m sure that my blood pressure spiked…   I carefully considered how I was going to phrase my response…

“Well.. I’m a little surprised by all of this.. and honoured to be given the opportunity, but I’m going to have to respectfully decline the offer…”

I don’t think that she was expecting that.  Things had been going along so well.  So I explained further…

“I’m great at writing, and I think going in and talking to you would be fine… but sitting in front of a video camera… well that scares the shit out of me.. excuse my bluntness…  I’d be so uncomfortable that I don’t think you’d have anything that you’d even want to show to people…”

She said that she understood, and respected my position… and that she’d still like to take me up on my offer of writing my story, if I would agree to that.  By all means.  Not a problem.  I can hide behind my keyboard, and not have to worry about my hair being a mess.

Still, it was nice to be recognized…

My only regret is that I didn’t go see them sooner.  Through a combination of bad decisions, and poorly-timed circumstances, some of which were completely outside my control, I watched my debt increase astronomically.  It’s pretty bad when you have to put groceries and diapers on your credit card, and are constantly transferring balances from your cards to a line of credit.  There just never seemed to be enough time to catch up.  It wasn’t easy to turn to them for help.  But it was the right decision.

I was so impressed with CCS that I chose it as the topic of my report for a Personal Finance class in university a couple of years ago.  I was then asked to present that report to the rest of the class, as they were a little younger than me, and perhaps my experiences might help them realize the dangers of taking on too much, too quickly.

Well, my debt has been officially paid off since October, but it still takes time for everything to work its way through the financial system.  This afternoon I had my exit-interview.  My counselor was all smiles.  How is everything?  Everything’s great!  Couldn’t be better.  Do I need help with a budget?  Nope.  Got it all under control, thanks.  Do I want to get another pre-approved small balance credit card to help re-establish my credit?  Sure do, thanks!

It’s all good in Credit Land.  Sunshine and butterflies.  Rainbows and lollipops.

Many things have changed since I first found myself in debt trouble years ago.  There’s no point in getting into all of it, but suffice to say… I won’t be making some of those same mistakes again.  And as for the things outside my control, well I wouldn’t say that I have a contingency fund large enough to sustain me for any great length of time… but I’m working on it.

Never again…

I borrowed that title from a TV show that deals with helping people dig themselves out of personal debt.  It’s amazing how quickly it gets out of control if you’re not paying attention.

Today I made the last payment on my debt management account!  That means no more credit card debt.  No more line of credit.  Not even a car loan.  My money is pretty much my own, and it feels as though a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!  This has been a long time coming.  The separation agreement laid out which debts were mine, and I’ve been aggressively paying them down so I could get on with my life.  And with this final payment…

I’m free!

Crossing another item off my Steve 2.0 list!

Here’s a good lesson to learn…  If you overpay a bill on a closed account, don’t expect to automatically receive a cheque for the overpaid balance.

I opened my latest (and last!) MBNA statement to find that I had a $47 CR balance.  When I called them to ask if I was going to receive a cheque, I was told that they didn’t do that unless requested.

OK, consider this my official request!

So I should see a cheque in the mail sometime in the next 2 weeks, which will cover the $40 NSF charge this month, and give me almost enough to buy a quarter pounder combo for lunch.

Good times.

It’s nice to see that, in these difficult economic times, Canada’s banks continue to flourish.  And why shouldn’t they?  I pretty much single-handedly support at least one of them.  Between my monthly fees, and all the additional usage fees, I’m surprised that I don’t have a seat at the board.  Whoever came up with the idea of a bank was a freakin’ genius.  I wish it had been me.

I pay $13/month for my supposedly “all inclusive” banking package.  I know that some people refuse to pay that much, but I figured that my monthly withdrawals were significant enough to warrant the higher package.  I could pay just $13/month and not have to worry about any other fees, right?

If only that were true.

If I want to withdraw money from any other bank machine other than my own bank’s, I don’t get charged by my bank, but there’s a nice little charge from the other bank.  OK.  Fine.  I only do that in the rarest of circumstances, but it still burns me.  But here’s the real kicker…

RBC charges $40 for a NSF fee?  I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that I had been charged $40 after they determined that there were insufficient funds to cover my $25 gym membership withdrawal.  (The fact that it was a gym membership fee that cost me an additional $40 makes it even worse!)  I knew that my balance was low, and deposited cash into the machine to cover the $25.  But it was after 6pm, and even though my balance READ higher than $25, when midnight struck, the computer nailed me with a $40 NSF fee!

I can remember a time when an NSF fee was merely an inconvenience, not a tank of gas!  When the hell did that change?  And to rub it in even more, RBC runs an ad on TV where they mention all the benefits of the particular plan that I have, including “Free Over Draft Protection”.  So I called their helpdesk and asked why I had been charged that ridiculous fee.

“Did you apply for over draft protection, sir?”

*sigh*

I hate these people.  I’d hide my money under the mattress if I have money.  Or a decent mattress.

I’ve been thinking about opening one of those crazy new (relatively) Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) through Royal Bank.  The idea seemed simple enough.  Contribute up to $5000/yearly and the interest earned is tax free.  Any contribution room that you don’t use can be added to the next year(s) so even if you don’t put anything in it now, the $5000 contribution allowance will automatically carry forward.  I know people who are opening their accounts now, just to get them on paper, and will start regular contributions some time in the future.

So I started to look at them a little closer.  There are a few different types, and I don’t pretend to be any sort of financial wizard.  (I’ve got the bank statements to prove it!)  I didn’t want to get involved with stocks or mutual funds.  I wanted a plain vanilla savings account.  Something that my simple brain could handle. 

RBC TFSA Savings Deposit account.  Perfect.  Here are the rates. 

Now, getting back to the financial wizard, that I am not…  I’m looking at these numbers, and scratching my head.  0.750%  That’s less than 1%, right?  Why do I have to worry about having to pay taxes on any interest income, when I’m not going to MAKE any income from the interest?  And looking at that chart… anyone who has a billion dollars and has it set up in one of these accounts is a complete moron and deserves to have that money taken away from them and redistributed to the little people.. like me!

So I called RBC and asked the representative if I was understanding these numbers properly.  Yup.  Then I laughed.  “Yes, it is laughable,” he told me “but the rate varies, so it will go up at some point.”

That’s encouraging.  Although, it might very well go down too. 

It costs nothing to set up the account, nothing to maintain it, and only takes a few minutes to set up, so I went ahead anyway.  Someday when I have a few hundred million dollars laying around that I want to move into it, I hope that it breaks the 1% barrier!