Category — Frugal Living

In the last few years, credit card companies and banks have been tripping over themselves, sending easily approved cards to many customers. I’ve been target of such marketing but lately, it seems this has reduced quite a fair bit perhaps due to banks finally waking up to the fear they might not get their money back from bad customers. I remember those days when applying for a card, you need to show much higher income and they ask all kind of questions before they issue you one.

Just the other day, I received my card statement with the yearly annual subscription. Although the amount they charge is not that big, around $20, money is still money especially in this economy. (That’s also why I never bothered with a gold card, higher fees just to impress someone? No thanks)

So I picked up the phone to call the customer service to have that waived. It seems like a lot of hassle having to do that every year. In the past, it is quite easy to just hint that I’ll, “cancel the card” to have the annual fee waived but banks are also hungry for cash flow these days, and they know the “cancel the card” trick.

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Owning pets is a good thing. Pets give enjoyment and fulfillment plus there are studies done that pets do quite a bit of good for the elderly and children as well. We had pets at home when we was younger including a string of dogs, cats and pet fish. Once I got married and moved out, I don’t keep pets anymore because of time and the added hassle of taking care of them. [Read more →]