$400.00 down for my 90,000 mile check up on a car I don’t really want, but have to keep for now. $276.14 on Citi Business credit card—29% interest hike up because the last payment was late. ALL of my work last week as a tutor went to pay these bills. C forgot to pay the bills last month, two other ones (in addition to the Citi cards) were late. Their interest rate was hiked up to 22%. I freaked out on C about not remembering to pay the bills and then he was able to do the same thing to me today when I forgot to pick up the check on Friday that was going to get us out of this mess. We have one big account. When this restaurant is busy, they buy a lot of product and their one account pays all of our monthly minimum balances. This was a huge feat for us when it first happened. Now, it’s old hat and it’s not good enough and it is taking too long for us to dig ourselves out of this crazy business hole we got ourselves into.
(Obvious) Lesson of the Day: Pay your bills on time every time. Don't leave it to someone else to take care of ever, especially not someone who you don't completely trust to do things on time. Track all of your money and APR interest rates and keep it in mind at all times. I think it is too easy for people to just keep swiping their cards without realized that the shoes they just bought "on sale" are going to end up costing them tons more when bought with a credit card that has a balance and a high interest rate. Don't let this get out of control ever. It is very easy to get in the credit card hole and very hard to find your way out.
Finally, Citi Business is actually a great company to have a business card with. They hiked up the interest rate this particular time, but I called and explained the situation and they put it back down to 6% and refunded me money back for the fees. Plus, they were really nice and helpful on the phone.
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