Updating My Debt Reduction Journey

The application I turned in to Discover Card to try to get their card with the 0% balance transfers for 12 months and 5% cash back on gas purchases was denied.  They said it was because I already had a card with them.  I know Chase doesn’t mind that.  I have taken out 3 cards with them and they took over two companies I had accounts with, so all together I have 5 accounts with them.  Three are paid off and one is close, so I hope to have them out of my life soon.

Discover’s letter said that if there were features on the card I was applying for that I’d like on my card I could call and speak to a representative.  I may try that soon if no other offer comes along.  I just tried to fill out another application inline, but the companies web site told me that area of the site was down for maintance.  Of course, I didn’t get that message until I had completed everything they wanted.  I have no idea if what I entered was submitted or if I’ll have to do the same thing all over again.

I got two rebates in the mail today.  $80 from Goodyear from the tires I bought in November and a $7 rebate for buying a DVD of “The Dark Knight” for my nephew at Christmas.  That’ll give me a little extra to throw at the debt this month and I can sure use the help.

Not only did I have my biggest electric bill ever, but we spent way too much by going on my daughter’s field trip for school a couple weeks ago.  She earned a trip to a hockey game by reading a certain amount of books.  She had a free ticket and the school was going to bus the students to the game in a town about 80 miles away, but her softball team wanted her to attend a softball clinic that afternoon in another town.  I thought about making her choose between softball and hockey, but when she asked if there was a way to do both, I told her I’d drive her to the hockey game after the clinic.  We were late getting to the game and the only tickets that were left cost $30, so my wife and I spent $60 to take her to her free game.  Due to the length of the softball clinic, we didn’t have time to eat before the game so we spent way too much at the concession stand.  The unexpected cost of the tickets forced me to visit their ATM which added a couple bucks in bank fees.

By the time I add up the softball clinic fee, the gas, the tolls, the bank fees, the parking, the tickets and the food, I bet I spent close to $200 that day.  It was fun, but if I had known a couple weeks before that I was going to the game, I could have volunteered to be a chaperone and gotten the tickets through the school for $9.00 each!