Unappealing Tasks

Okay, so. In addition to the general cost-cutting (have I mentioned I'm about to start making my own bread?), I've been looking at proactive ways to stay OUT of the credit/debt/whatever trap before I fall in.

For instance: I thought I paid a doctor's bill about a million years ago. Apparently I didn't; I got another notice (the "pay this before we collect on you, starting with your kneecaps!" type), discovered I had no record of paying it, and so got on the phone. It was a genuine mistake, the hospital sent me around five different bills for a single visit... Ech, anyhow, watch out for that. And lo and behold, as I'm talking to the guy and say "I lost my job a month ago..." he suddenly says "Well, for people in your situation, we do have permission from this vendor to give a discount, if you can pay that discounted rate in full."

Oh, realllly?

Yes really! And it turns out it was a 50% discount! Outrageous! So I saved a fair amount of money, which was delightful, and immediately decided to deploy this in every possible place I can.

It doesn't work that way often, obviously. But simply by getting on the darn phone and making a few calls, I was able to knock $5 off my monthly Verizon plan -- the rep took a look at my average phone usage, found a minute plan that's closer to my actual usage, and voila. On top of that, she reminded me that I've got an app on there that's costing me $10/month. And when I was first learning my way around New York, that was a fair expense, but now? Cut cut cut. So that's $15 off my phone bill.

Next up, heating and gas. (I'd actually sat on my gas bill for a little while, so this was three months' worth of cost.) After a 20-minute wait after a bunch of other panicking masses, I got a lovely woman and explained to her that I'm unemployed, that I'm ineligible for unemployment benefits (thanks, contractor-happy corporations!), and that I'd like to sort out a payment plan. Within a matter of minutes and a 45 cent charge to do a cheque-over-the-phone initial payment, a $400 bill transformed into a monthly $125 payment schedule. Shazzam.

I called the credit card company, only to have them bizarrely tell me that I couldn't get the rate they're offering to new sign-ons. So I went and found a new card, this time with shiny airline points included (and yes, I should've had an air points card all along, I know). On top of that, it's got the option of balance transfer and 6 months of 0% APR.

I do have a few friends who used this balance-transfer trick for years, shifting debt at set intervals to a shiny new 0% APR, but I can't decide whether that was a smart move or if it somehow dings your credit history. Then again, they were moving real mountains of debt, not the relatively small sums I charge up. Regardless, I intend to keep using the original card, just more sparingly -- I usually pay my credit bills ASAP, and the APR it jumps to later is comparable to my existing card, so all of this is good with me. And my existing balance is completely manageable; if I had a crazy amount of debt on plastic, I probably would've tried to talk them into forgiving some of it, but it just wasn't justifiable here.

I've also been signing up for discount store cards -- as in, the ones where you swipe/log it to get discounts and coupons. I never did before, because I am a taxonomist and therefore know exactly how marketers can use that collected information, but there is a time for noble posturing and a time for picking up loose change on the subway, and we are in the second of those times. And now all I've got left to do is get on the phone with the cable/phone/internets company and I think I'll have minimized my exposure as much as possible.

(Side note - do cut flowers ever turn into flower zombies?)

Only in horror films, and possibly New Zealand.